Serpent's Temptress
by Spirit Eclipse Dragon-Wolf
Summary: Ever wonder if the stories one's parents tell their children is true? Naruto didn't... that is until he was thrown overboard and washed up on a strange beach with strange creatures. What will happen when he's captive in a prince's coils? (Adopted from ZacksmexyFair)
1. Prologue

**_Hey y'all! So, I adopted this story a while back since no one else has. It's up for adoption anyways. I tried doing it three times before, but didn't seem to stick. This is the last time I'm trying and plan to finish it this time hopefully. Just be patient with me please, ok? Thanks y'all. _**

**_I hope you all enjoy this. This is an AU like usual. Everyone writes the characters differently. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice comments._**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**Warnings: Same sex relationships, death, eventual lemons, blood, etc. will be involved. **

**Pairing: SasuNaru. Any others will be implied and/or added like usual.**

**Serpent's Temptress**

**Prologue**

At six years old, Naruto Namikaze, son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzimaki Namikaze, giggles as he listens intently to his father retell a story. It's one that he has heard so many times before though has yet to grow tired of it. He has his father retell the story every night whenever Minato is at home from doing his 'big daddy things' in other cities. Baby blue eyes as bright as the sky on a sunny day peek out from underneath his blanket as the older blonde tries to reenact the story as he portrays it, making it seem much more exciting for the young boy that's supposed to be asleep.

"….Then I met the most magnificent creature in the world I have ever seen! She had the torso of a woman, but her legs were gone. They were replaced with a snake's tail!" Minato makes a hissing noise like the snake he's speaking about, waggling his fingers towards the boy as he takes a step closer, causing Naruto to squeal in delight, tucking the comforter around him tighter. "Her features were certainly out of this world. Her eyes and scales were as red as her hair. She had a long tongue, her ears pointed at the tips like the elves spoken in English folklores."

Of course, as always, Naruto has to ask, "Was she nice?"

"Yes, she was. I would have been eaten whole if this snake woman hadn't vouched for me. I was held hostage there by their Lord who goes by the name, Madara Uchiha. He kept me alive to teach the wonders of my land. But this man was an evil snake. He wanted to devour me. His curiosity took the best of him. He allowed me to live to learn about humans," Minato is now sitting down on the edge of his son's bed, looking away as if in deep thought.

"How did they know our language Daddy?" Asks Naruto curiously although he loves this story.

The older male chuckles at that like he always does when Naruto asks that particular question, "Good question! You see, all kinds of things like books, charts, diaries from sunken ships or things thrown out to sea wash up there from all over the world from time to time. over The years they taught themselves how to speak all the languages without any help. That's how smart they are. They showed me where they keep all these washed up items, locked away in a shack where only the nobles are allowed to enter. It's where they learn the hidden ancient secrets."

"Why's that?" Inquires Naruto.

"I don't know. They nearly killed me when I asked," replies Minato with a sigh. "Anyways, back to the story. While I was there, telling everything I know to the lord, I fell in love with the snake. It was the one that had found me washed up on the beach-"

"Yay mommy!" Interrupts Naruto happily, making the father chuckle at his son's enthusiasm.

"Yes, yay mommy. Kushina fed me, healed my wounds, and kept me out of trouble. A few months later, we soon later found out that she was pregnant with you. The snake people didn't like that one bit," he shakes his head with a large frown on his face. "The creatures were afraid of what Kushina might have given birth to. So they were ordered by Madara to kill her and me. They kept the child from being born. It was my punishment. Your mother did not want that. She whisked me away towards the beach where she had found me. I soon found out that she was a water snake. I rode on her back all the way back home!"

Minato stands up, taking his weight off the bed. Making movements across the room as if he's riding a snake, Naruto giggles childishly gleeful at his father's antics.

Once Naruto calms down, he asks, "But how come mommy has legs instead of a tail?"

"Well, you see, your mommy's people knew how to cast spells. She was able to give herself legs to appear normal. I had to find some clothes for her since she only wore a dress that covered her torso. However, I found my parents. They let me and my wife stay with them until I could find a home of my own. I also had to get a job to help support your mommy. I had built this home with the money I had saved up. We were able to move in right after you were born," he ruffles his son's thick locks of blond hair that's as bright as the sun with a stunning smile as he relives through some of his old memories.

Naruto yelps quietly at it, laughing as he pushes the hand away from his head, "Will you ever go back to that place?"

Minato shakes his head, "No, I nor your mother must ever return to that place. Neither should you, my little sunshine."

He kisses his son's forehead and tucks him in as Naruto yawns, "Now it is time for you to go to sleep."

"But mommy hasn't come to say goodnight yet!" Protests Naruto, but is shushed gently by a hand running through his hair, making the little boy look up and smile sleepily at the sight of his mother.

"Do as your father says, Naruto," whispers Kushina before kissing her son's temple, smiling softly as the boy attempts to fight off sleep, but when the redheaded woman begins to sing a small lullaby has Naruto knock out in minutes. "Goodnight my beautiful baby."

She kisses his forehead, grabbing her husband's hand to walk out to get ready for bed herself.

In their room with the door shut, she shakes her head with a small frown etching on her face. It's thrown in the direction of her blond husband. For some reason, she can feel what's about to come. It's not something she really likes to talk about, hoping that he'll just have more trust in her by now. Inwardly, she sighs at knowing it's easier said than done.

"You need to stop telling Naruto those stories. He'll go searching for this place when he gets older. You know that, don't you?" Kushina asks her child's best interests at heart even though she regrets bringing this up in the first place as she doesn't want Naruto to be disappointed.

"He's only a child. Once he gets older, he's going to think that they were only stories," Minato waves it off, wrapping his arms around his wife's waist from behind as he makes a noise of protest when Kushina pulls away, turning around to give Minato the look.

"Those stories aren't true. He's going to believe that they are true if you keep telling him them," the redhead sighs in sadness, seeing in her mind her son's face once they tell him that they can't retell those stories anymore. "You know I don't like it any more than you do, but I think it's for the best."

Grabbing the blond's hands in hers, she kisses his cheek before gliding across the floor to retrieve her yukata as well as her husband's, "Why don't you start telling him about your childhood tomorrow? I know he'll enjoy those."

"Alright, but he won't enjoy them as much," shrugs Minato.

Pulling his blouse over his head and slipping off his boots that he has bought from a trader a few years ago, he pulls his yukata over his shoulders to tie it closed before slipping off his pants. Kushina laughs at his modesty before she proceeds to undress herself in front of her husband without any shame. It isn't until she's completely naked does she slide into her night clothes, practically teasing her husband to come and touch her. Though she does feel a little disappointed when Minato decides to restrain himself to slip beneath the heavy quilt to hide his reaction. It doesn't take long for her to follow suit after him, pressing herself against his body.

"Goodnight, my love," says Kushina softly.

"Goodnight."

()()()()()

The air is musky, the people tend to be rude, and the roads are hard. This doesn't seem like home. Naruto doesn't like the way the people scowl at his father and sneer at his mother. They practically ignore him. The carriage that they are in is the only thing that seems somewhat interesting to the small blond. The clothes he's wearing irritate him, having seen his father wear similar clothes to the traders except he never wears everything they do until now. Due to how they are of noble families, they have to dress like one. This involves where they have to wear constraining garments. Naruto is used to feeling free in his kimono, but now he has to wear what they call trousers over here along with a buttoned up blouse, vest, and jacket. The shoes he has to wear hurt his feet since he isn't used to having his whole foot clad. It makes him almost tempted to throw a temper tantrum. Although his father does look rather nice in his suit while his mother in her white poofy dress with a white hat.

They have to move to a large city because of his father's work. Minato has owned a silk factory back home where he makes the finest homespun clothing. This has increasingly caught several business people's eyes. It has shortly begun asking for the older blond to come and help with their own silk factory since they aren't making any profitable business. At first, Minato is hesitant until he finds out how much money he's going to be making. While he's a noble, his family isn't making very much money since they aren't that big of a clan. A little extra money will definitely help them.

Having been traveling across the country with the two business men by train and across the canal by boat, it takes them almost two months to do all of this. Naruto has quickly become very homesick. This happens especially when being on a train for so long, having been on several. What he does find out is one of the business men that can speak Japanese seems very friendly. Spending days talking to the man, he spends it learning about the many places that he and his partner have been at so far.

Now, they are dressed the way the business men are. The trio are on their way to their new home. The two men will be providing it for them. The homes here are built out of slate stone and brick. It's quite different in comparison to the ones back home which are made out of wood and built out instead of up. The house that they are going to live at is on the edge of town near the fields. It seems to be near the factory as well to be certainly different from their old home. Of course it will do for the time being. The carriage suddenly stops in front of a three story, red brick house. The carriage door is opened for the family. Minato steps out first to help his wife and child, looking nervously up at their new home. The older blond pulls out the key that Gatou, one of the business men, has given him. It's the man's summer home, but he rarely uses it. So, he's letting the Namikaze's borrow it for the time being. Naruto doesn't really like it at all, refraining himself from saying it out loud. The last thing he wants is to upset his father even though it's evident on his face.

Settling down after unpacking everything, they all relax as much as they possibly can in a new place where they can't exactly understand the language during the past month. Haku, the second business man, being their personal translator has been able to help out. Haku practically lives with the Namikaze's, teaching Minato and Kushina English. Naruto has someone else to teach him the language, learning from his home schooled teacher that Haku has suggested they have for their son. The young blond's parents want their son to become accustomed to their new living conditions before he can be able to attend any kind of private school. Luckily Iruka, Naruto's teacher, doesn't live too far away, being a nice young man.

Naruto is a fast learner fortunately, catching onto the language quickly. Though he doesn't like how he sounds. It just doesn't feel that much different than the way the others speak. Being a little slow with his studies since he finds them boring except for history, Naruto thinks it's his only subject he has been able to perfect even though he's not too bad with the other subjects. For some reason he's not going the speed that Iruka might of liked. Naruto does seem to get his work done even if it takes him all day to do it which he doesn't mind. Having no friends nor anything else. To occupy his time with, Naruto pours his free time into his studies as much as he can.

()()()()()

Shock; that is the only way Naruto can describe the look on his father's face when Gatou comes up to their doorstep to fire Minato right on the spot. A huge argument follows. Trying to keep himself from being noticeable, Naruto washes from the stairs, sitting down high enough to not be seen, but low enough to see what's going on. The shadows hide him well enough as he gazes on out between the banisters, being witness to the two men argue.

"How can you fire me right when business is booming?" Yells Minato, his accent a little choppy. "I have worked hard for your business with low pay without complaint while you sat back in your mansion. Then you tell me I'm fired? Why?"

The short brown haired man looks uninterested in the blond's distress and anger, looking at his fingers while his other hand grips the end of his cane, "You see, Mr. Namikaze, you aren't needed anymore. Now that the business has finally gained enough profit to give me a comfortable living for the future, I won't be needing your assistance any longer."

"Are you telling me you used me?" Gawks Minato in astonishment, his anger rising when he comes to this conclusion.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," confirms the older man.

"Why?" Minato wants to know the reasons behind this.

"Well, I needed someone to do all the hard work for me. You were just too easy to fool," the man smirks up at the furious red faced blond. "When I went to Japan and saw your nicely made silk garments I just had to use your talent for my own use. Thank you for your hard work. I'm sure I'll be bringing in the big bucks here soon."

Red consumes his vision. Minato attacks the stout man without a second thought. Lost in his anger, the blond beats the man to death. A gasp from Kushina snaps Minato back to earth. It doesn't take long for him to see what he has done. Shame and guilt at not controlling his anger flows through the redhead's husband. Quickly, he grabs the body to hide it in the coat closet before ordering his wife and son to pack whatever they can carry, following suit before all three left into the cold night. Fleeing to the docks with whatever money they have, they paid the captain of one of the ships a large sum of money. It's to take them out of this land. The plan is to travel to wherever they want far away from there at a hasty pace. The captain accepts the payment without question, ordering the other passengers to get on bored or be left behind before they begin to set sail.

()()()()()

Outside splitting wood for his mother, Naruto does it for the upcoming winter this year. Wanting to get it done quickly instead of working extra hard at the last minute like he has done last year, he isn't particularly fond of doing such hard labor though working at a farm is far better than living in the city with all its people. After he and his parents left those strange lands three years ago, they docked in a providence. What their decision was is to stay there, figuring to live outside of the city limits. During the summer had been when they had come there so they are able to camp outside before the Inuzukas took them in.

The Inuzukas are a family of three. It consists of Tsume Inuzuka, her daughter Hana and her son Kiba. The last member of that family is about the same age as Naruto. The lively bunch have been riding down the road on their wagon when they passed by the camping family. They let them join them as long as they helped out on the farm. The Namikazes are of course thankful for the help. Staying in the large shack behind the house before building onto it, they made it their permanent home. The Inuzukas are dog breeders, breeding the best hunting dogs around. People pay hundreds if not more for their dogs, giving enough money to live comfortably around here.

Stopping so he can wipe away the sweat from his brow, Naruto takes off his shirt before going back to work. Lifting a piece of wood vertically onto the large stump, he grabs the axe to raise it high into the air only to bring it back down right on top of the small log to split it in half with one go. It surprises the blond, picking up a piece of it to weigh it in his hand.

"This is much lighter than the others," he muses to himself with a shrug, throwing the piece into the pile of split logs next to him.

Making to grab another log has a tan arm wrapping around his shoulders, halting him from going anywhere as a friendly voice asks, "You're still splittin' logs? Haven't you been doing that since morning'?"

Turning his gaze towards a shaggy, brown haired, dark brown eyed teenager, Naruto gives a small smile. Red like fangs adorn the male's cheeks. It's a sign of what clan he's from. The Inuzuka's canines are longer than normal, but it fits him just fine. This brown haired teen is very handsome, having many girls go bad for him. This occurrs especially when he's shirtless and sweating. The blond smirks at the thought of one girl in particular. It's a Ms. Haruno, wanting to go against her father's teachings to sleep with him. However, this particular Inuzuka is not interested in the rosette girl.

"Sorry, I lost track of time I guess," replies Naruto with a shrug, picking up the axe so he can bring it back to the barn, hanging the tool on the two nails sticking out of the wall just before a pair of arms wrap around his waist, warm lips brushing against the side of his neck. "Kiba…"

"What? You know how I am," pouts Kiba.

"Yeah," heat rushes to Naruto's cheeks, having become quite fond of the Inuzuka over the years.

"C'mon, mom wants us both inside."

()()()()()

_Seven Years Later _

_No, no, no, please no! _Naruto yells in his head all the way to the mother has been brought to.

Riding his horse all the way into town as fast as he can, Kiba is right behind him. Kushina has developed a high fever and throwing up blood while the two young men are out fishing at the lake close by. Tsume has stayed home to tell them what has happened. She also let them know that Minato has taken Kushina to the hospital. Naruto wastes no time, not even bothering to saddle his horse to ride all the way there without stopping. Tying his horse to a pole outside the large building, he runs inside to startle many patients that are waiting to see a doctor at his appearance. Not wearing a shirt or shoes, his pants are a little damp. Kiba is in the same boat. The two of them don't really care about the dress code, striding in to immediately start badgering a nearby nurse on where Kushina Namikaze is. The nurse quickly tells them where she can be found to get them away faster. Dashing down an opposite hall, the blond and brunette find the room the redhead is staying in. Naruto is hastily by her side in a second, holding her hand. At least the one that isn't already taken by Minato. Kushina groggily turns her head to the side to smile weakly at her son. Her face is incredibly pale, her lips a light blue, and her eyes are becoming less lively by the minute. Naruto knows that her end is coming. She also knows it too, but she feels ready for it. Trying to stay strong for both his parents, Naruto knows that his father is going to take this rather badly.

"We spent a nice long 16 years together, haven't we?" Whispers out Kushina with a gentle smile, eyes straining to stay open.

Naruto nods sadly while Minato shakes his head, "No, no it hasn't been long enough. We both need to be living together for a few more decades."

"You'll be ok," she murmurs, trying to reassure him with a weak smile.

He wraps both his hands around his wife's, bringing the delicate appendage to his lips as a few tears slip past his lids, "You'll be ok, right?"

Kushina shakes her head softly, mournful for leaving her husband a little sooner than she previously thought to expect, "No, sweetie. I'll be joining my mother soon. I'll be watching over you two."

Her breath hitches before it becomes raggedy. It eventually begins gradually slowing down with each heartbeat. She doesn't live much longer after that. Her hand turns limp in her husband's and son's grasps. Minato breaks down when his wife doesn't answer him after several attempts to wake her, Naruto wraps his arms around his father, crying as well. He doesn't weep as heavily as Minato does for the loss. Kiba stays standing outside by the door. He watches the whole ordeal with a sad frown, watery eyes which a few tears break through to fall down his cheeks. Kiba has been around death, but it's never someone close to him until now. Kushina has been like an aunt to him, having grown to love her. When seeing her lifeless in front of him with his friend and friend's father crying for her death just breaks his heart.

A few days later, they tie a heavy rock to the redheaded woman. They let her sink to the bottom of the ocean. Minato says that she never wanted to be buried on land, but in water. That's when Naruto remembers something about his father telling him about his wife being a water snake a long time ago. It has just been a story, right? Although as he continues to watch his mother sink as they left, he swears that he catches out of the corner of his field of vision a tail grow out of her before it becomes too hard to see her anymore.

()()()()()

_Three Years Later _

"He's at it again, Naruto," whispers Kiba so as not to let Minato hear him from the other room.

Giving the blond a sad look when Naruto peeks out into the living room, he sighs at the sight. When he does so has him seeing his father gazing at a drawing of his mother while holding a cup of some kind of alcohol. Tsume and Hana are gone to take a few of their bred dogs to certain clients. They are ones that can't make it all the way out here in the boonies.

"You need to talk to him; this has gone far enough," hisses out Kiba to him.

Kiba is right even though he might not want to readily admit it. Naruto knows that he has to do something about this instead of letting his father wallow in self pity all the time. Taking in a deep breath, Naruto waltzes into the room to grab the cup from his father's hand. Putting it aside, Minato makes a sound of protest that Naruto ignores. Reaching out, he grabs the picture of his mother to put it in the pocket of his pants when Minato makes a grab for it.

"Give that back!" the older blond cries out.

"No, father! This has gone on long enough! Mother is gone. She is not coming back, get over it. I know it's a rude thing to say, but you need to buck up and start living again instead of drinking your life away!" Shouts Naruto angrily, unhappy at the way his father keeps grabbing at him to get the picture back. "You're not the only one who feels lonely!"

"But she's my wife, I've known her longer than you have," snaps Minato.

"She was my mother. She is someone who is very dear to me as well! I've grieved and now I'm going to go on with my life like she wants me to," sneers Naruto, really wanting to hit him at the moment. "I'm sure she's very unhappy with you like this."

A resounding smack echoes in the room, a gasp from Kiba following as his gaze widens in shock. Never has he thought that Minato might ever strike Naruto for no reason. Then again the older blonde has been drinking to numb his grief and sorrow away. His cheek stings from where his father has hit him with the back of his hand, but his head barely turns to the side. Biting his lip, Naruto nods as if agreeing with whatever he's thinking of.

"Ok, fine. If you want to wallow in misery then that's fine by me," he says before he left, grabbing his jacket on the way out after slipping on his heavy boots.

Minato stares at his hand in shock, guilt tearing him up inside from what he has done. He has hit his own son out of anger. Having never struck out at Naruto for any reason before, he thought that he'll never do such a thing to his own flesh and blood. The only time he has hit his son is to give him a spanking when he does something naughty, but the blond is too old for that anymore. Looking over to where Naruto has left. Following suit after him, he's thankful that it has snowed earlier this morning. There is a new set of tracks that are most likely his son's. Kiba is right behind, going at a slower pace to see what will happen, deciding to stay cautious with the state both blondes are currently in. By the time Minato catches up with Naruto, he sees his son crossing an icy bridge.

"Naruto!" Calls out his father, running across the bridge as his voice stops the younger blond at the other side.

Naruto spins on his heels with a surprised and confused look on his face. Doing this just in time to see an out of control carriage coming straight towards his father, Naruto gives a warning shout. Unfortunately, it's too late, watching in horror as Minato turns to see what's wrong only to be pummeled to the ground by a large horse. The carriage runs right over his fallen body. It crushes him for his whole body exploding in pain as he starts to feel rather sleepy along with it. His neck is broken, knowing it well enough by the way his head just stays flopped to the side when he tries turning it to see the damage.

The man driving the carriage stops, hopping down to run towards the fallen blond. Naruto is already kneeling beside Minato by the time the man reaches them. The man who that has run over Minato curses at seeing the tragic display. Apologizing profusely for his idiocy at going too fast on the icy bridge, Naruto ignores it. Shaking as he takes in the damage his father has sustained, it's mostly covered in blood. A puddle of red liquid begins to form around the broken body to stain Naruto's pants and Kiba's. Having seen the whole thing, Kiba rushes up to join him.

"I-I'm… s-s-s-so… rry," whispers out Minato around the blood that fills his mouth, draining whatever he has left as blue eyes that rivaled Naruto's stay open as the old blond passes away, mouth slacking as a small stream of red trickles down the corner of his lips.

Naruto and Kiba don't wait for a funeral. They don't have the body clean for that sort of thing. Instead of that they have the man driving the carriage take them out to the docks. Tying whatever can keep Minato from floating back up before dumping his body into the dark depths, it begins to rain to cause Kiba and Naruto to shiver from the cold as a thunder storm starts to brew. They left in a hurry, not wanting to be caught in the storm. When Naruto gives one last glance back into the watery depths just as lightning flashes, he swears that he sees a long tailed creature wrap around his father. The creature looks oddly similar to his mother.

**_Oks, that's the end of the prologue. I hope you all enjoyed it. At least it only took me a few hours to revise it. All that I'm doing is changing everything to present verb tense and tidying up sentence structure. _**

**_Anyway, the next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_**


	2. Embark

**_Hey y'all! Welcome back for the next chappie of Serpent's Temptress. I'm going to try updating this once or twice a week, but this isn't set in stone. I try not to be too militant with my update schedule. We'll see about updates happening when chappies are done, alrighty? well, with that squared away, let's get on with it. _**

**_I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice comments. _**

**Chapter 1: Embark **

Ah, the calm sea, the smell of salt, and the warm sun beating down on him. Who can ever ask for a better life than this? Many have given him questions about his lifestyle, but he loves the sea. What else? He also adores the change of colors when passing into the next ocean. Admiring the new sights, he enjoys the different cultures. A warm breeze caresses through his blond locks, blue eyes closing in pleasure while leaning against the railing on the left side of the poopdeck. A hand pulls gently on the braid at the back of his head. It suddenly brings him back from his thoughts, throwing a glare to the side when the person who pulls on his hair leans on the railing beside him.

"Kiba," the blond greets with a small frown.

"Naruto," the man greets back while running a hand through his thick brown locks. "You seem rather happy today until I show up. If I had known my presence was unwanted then I would've stayed home."

"Don't pull my hair," is the blonde's only answer towards his companion, fingering the braid after throwing it over his shoulder, liking his braid though sometimes he might use a different style depending on his mood.

Others might not have caught notice of it unless they are facing his back or it's thrown over his shoulder like it is now. It's because from the front his hair looks like its normal spiky self. The braid appears more like a blond tail growing out from the nape of his neck. Of course he knows that Kiba does mean well. Growling lowly, he seats himself behind the blond, pressing close against the other male's back with his hand on either side of Naruto on the railing. Keeping him captive against it, Naruto smiles at the action, letting the brunette nuzzle against his hair like the dog everyone claims him to be. Naruto spins around so he can properly face the taller man. Leaning up to brush his lips against bright red ones, he knows that a few nosey men are watching them expectantly. When they kiss, the men whistle. Lying one's life on a boat for so long around the same gender causes a tendency to forget about one's previous sexual preference. Due to how Naruto is the best looking one out of them all besides Kiba, the blond does get hit on a lot. It causes Kiba to become jealous at times. He doesn't really blame him though. They are unashamed by their actions. Naruto opens his mouth to let Kiba's tongue worm its way in, moaning as he runs his hands along the brunette's back. They travel down to grab the taller man's ass beneath his pants. The two of them know all too well that they are gathering an audience, but they do need some entertainment once in a while to stroke off too during the night. Their captain doesn't fall into that category, not enjoying the two to bring his men away from their duties. Thinking that they'll know better, he knows being on the sea can be a lonely life; holding some sympathy for his crew.

"Alright, break it up you two and go back to work!" the captain yells from his station at the wheel although he does have quite a smirk on his face even though no one can really see it because of the scarf that he wears over his mouth all the time. "We still have crates to put away before they can soil by the salt water!"

Shrugging after he pulls away from his friend, Naruto goes to do his share, hauling several barrels of ale into the bowels of the ship. Yup, nothing can be better than being part of a traders' ship. It's where one can go anywhere for certain goods. It's how they bring their cargo back to other lands. One gets to meet many people from different parts of the world. Though one can't understand them most of the time, but that's what translators are for. Back out on the deck with the warm sun, Naruto smiles, going to take hold of another barrel. Obviously he does love his job. Maybe a bit too much, but he enjoys the carefree life of a sailor.

()()()()

"You'll catch a cold standing out here like this," says the captain, becoming worrisome for his blonde crew mate.

Turning his head slightly from where he sits on top of the crow's nest, Naruto cracks a smile as his captain climbs the rest of the way up, "Mmm, that's highly unlikely to happen. The night sky is beautiful tonight. Kakashi?"

"Yes?" the white haired captain turns his dark grey eyes towards his crew member with a small smile that can be seen since the scarf is wrapped around his neck.

"Did your parents ever tell you strange stories that seemed so unreal and yet somehow you want to believe what they said was true?" Asks Naruto absently, his mind does tend to trail to Minato and Kushina from time to time often enough.

Kakashi chuckles at this before sighing as he thinks back to his childhood years, "My parents never really told me stories since my father was mostly out at sea while my mother slept with other men. She did this while her husband was away. But my nursemaid did tell me folklores that she had heard from travelers at the tavern she used to work at. I knew they were fake, but no one else has ever seen these creatures or whatever that person said they claimed to have seen."

Naruto frowns at this, "I'm sorry, captain. I didn't know."

Fingers run into white hair, scratching the side of his head, "It's fine. If you can't see it then it doesn't exist."

A small laugh leaves Naruto's lips. Although he does feel upset about the parents part. Kakashi seems like such a nice man. It's kind of hard to tell that he has had such hardships in his past. The same goes with the blond and his smiling behavior, having lost his parents in tragic ways. It might be better that they loved him even when they died than being neglected throughout childhood. The captain must've come to learn to be kind through his nursemaid.

"My father used to tell me stories about washing up on an island where there were these half humans half snake people. One of which was supposedly my mom," the blond says through a chuckle that soon turns into a sad sigh. "My father suddenly stopped telling me them when I was around six. He began telling me stories about his childhood."

Kakashi raises a brow. "That's one hell of a story your dad has made up."

Naruto chuckles a little at this, "But I would give anything to hear it one more time."

Kakashi places a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "I know, but we can't bring the dead back to life. You need to let go."

He pauses, looking down into the ocean with a sad look, "My father once told me when he still told me those outrageous stories that my mother's people when they die they don't truly pass on."

"What does that mean?" Kakashi asks, holding a skeptical look as it's just a story Naruto's father made up, thinking there isn't anything true about it.

"It meant that once either one of them dies the one that died is still lurking about as a spirit. They're waiting for his, her, or their mate to come join them. Once their mate dies as well they both move on and pass over to wherever they go," explain the jinchurriki.

The captain thinks this over in consideration, liking the thought of having someone he cares about waiting for him to travel with him to the other side, "That's rather romantic despite it being about death."

Naruto shrugs, sticking his tongue out and letting the tip tap against the point of his nose like he usually does when bored. Kakashi watches the long tongue for a moment before letting out a small snort. Gazing out to the sea. In the distance, both can see a ship. It doesn't really concern them since there are many trader ships that like to travel the warm waters of the oceans. The ship seems to be heading straight towards them that's rather odd since trader ships hardly if ever start a fight against one another. The blond slips his tongue back into his mouth, sitting up straight when he notices that the other ship is getting closer. It doesn't seem to be changing its course.

"Captain… ….do you think that the traders of that ship like to exchange a few of their goods with ours?" Naruto asks, uncertain as there is a chance that it isn't another trader ship.

The white haired man can only shrug . Taking out his scope to get a better look at the larger ship before them, it seems the ship is alright until he catches sight of the flag. Paling considerably white as he takes the scope away from his eye, Naruto gives his captain a questioning look at the face Kakashi is making, but soon finds out when he takes the scope away. He has himself a look. This doesn't seem to be good, nope not at all.

"Oh shit," is all he can say as he drops the scope, hurrying down from the crow's nest to alert the others.

Kakashi follows suit after him with a low snarl, "Bloody pirates."

Down below, Naruto is yelling as loud as he can to get everyone up. It does earn him a few angry shouts until he says that pirates are on their way over. The crew is immediately on their feet, grabbing their weapons. Everyone is hurrying up to the deck, readying their cannons with the help of the powder monkeys carrying loads of gun powder and cannon balls to the gunners. Those who aren't operating a cannon have their muskets and pistols out, loading them up with gun powder and bullets. Others pull out their swords in case things get nasty. Naruto has out his musket, getting it ready for an imminent skirmish. Kakashi grabs his forearm, pulling him below deck. The younger man gives a surprised shout that soon turns into a protest at being taken away from his duties of protecting the ship. Glaring at his captain when he's finally let go, Naruto crosses his arms over his chest, hoping to Kami he'll receive a good explanation.

"Naruto, I need you to hide for the time being," is all Kakashi seems to be going to say about it before he begins to turn around, but Naruto's hand on his bicep stops him to turn him around to face him.

"Why? I can fight as well as the others. Maybe I'm even better than them," growls Naruto, thinking that his captain is calling him weak.

The older man sighs, "That's not it. I know how well you can fight, but these pirates are ruthless. I know for sure this is going to be a losing battle. I would have suggested we run, but our ship is too slow."

"Then why am I hiding when I'm sure I can help out? I'd rather die while fighting than die a coward," asks Naruto, glaring daggers at Kakashi.

"No, Naruto. You don't get it! Once they see you and your looks they'll make sure you live," Kakashi takes in a deep breath, regaining his composure as he rubs the bridge of his nose in frustration, trying to hurry up and see how fast the other ship is closing in. "These pirates aren't like others. They plunder, but only for good looking men. It's so they sell them to rich men that will pay a high price for them. They deal in human trafficking. I don't want you to become some sex toy to some man."

"How am I any good to the rich men if I fight back? They don't want toys that aren't obedient," Naruto scoffs, looking to the side though misses the small wince from Kakashi.

"Naruto, these pirates," another sigh escapes from Kakashi before he continues. "These pirates are well known by their ways of torturing their merchandise until they become empty sex dolls without having to touch them."

The captain's hands begin to shake as he pushes the blond deeper into the bowels of the ship, remembering a good hiding place for him. He doesn't want Naruto to suffer, not wanting Naruto to be caught by those pirates. Losing a few crewmen in the past to such bafoons, he doesn't want to lose anyone else. Although in the back of his mind he knows that eventually he will. Their ship is far too slow to run, grimacing at knowing their ship will most likely be boarded at any moment, searching and fighting the men on board.

"How do you know this?" Naruto glances back once they are in the hold, giving his captain a scared yet hopeful look as he becomes uncertain if his thoughts are wrong about the silver haired man.

Kakashi pauses from where he kneels on the floor where he's about to pull up a few floor boards, not able to look at the blond. Opting to keep his guilty gaze down at the floor, he had hopes that this talk might be seems that luck isn't on his side today.

Taking in a deep albeit shaky breath he begins, "I know all of this because I was one of them. The pirates I mean. I saw their flag of blue with a bleeding red heart."

"What?" Breathes out Naruto in disbelief.

He winces when Naruto gasps quietly at his thoughts being correct, "I didn't know. I honestly didn't know what I was getting myself into when I joined. I thought we were just going to plunder and pillage jewels, gold, etc. I was so wrong. I can't even begin to explain what they did except say that they have the worst tactics on breaking a person's soul."

Gulping at this, his eyes widen in fright. The silver haired man has told him once that he was a pirate, but realizes that it's not the life for him. When asked about it Kakashi won't talk about it before now. Usually he'd change the subject. The blond catches a glimpse of hurt in the grey eyes that won't look at him. Knowing that his captain truly wants him safe from the horrible ways of the pirates, he watches as Kakashi pulls up a few floor boards to reveal a small storage space inside. It's only he alone who knows about it. It's big enough for Naruto to lay down on his back.

"I had this made in case we had a thief on bored. I would put my expensive possessions in here," explains Kakashi as he helps the blond into the long storage space. "I'll make sure that the floor boards are far enough apart so you can breathe."

One by one, Naruto disappears behind each wooden plank. A cannon sounds suddenly above deck. Kakashi is up there in seconds. Running up onto the deck, he's just in time to see the pirate ship just a few feet away. Its occupants are more than ready to board. Drawing out his pistol, he loads it before he aims at the first pirate that's about to swing over. Once the ships are side by side, he fires. All hell breaks out shortly after that. Planks are heaving over the pirate's ships. It's so that other pirates can more easily walk across, Kakashi's men are meeting them on the other side. Blood spills across the deck's floor, making it slippery and difficult to aim or stay up while sword or fist fighting.

Kiba uses the butt end of his musket to fight off some of them. His eyes frantic, uncertain of where his blonde friend is. Having not seen him before the skirmish broke out, he hopes that Naruto is ok. Once the evil men are too close to reload his weapon, he'll have a harder time defending himself. Kiba becomes terrified when he can't spot him. Who he does spot is his captain, making his way over while throwing a few men overboard along with breaking a few men's noses.

Once he's beside the older man he asks although he has to yell over all the fighting and shouting, "Where's Naruto?!"

"I hid him!" Is the captain's reply, pushing away and shooting a man that tries to tackle him to the ground. "I'll explain later if we ever get the chance!"

Down below, Naruto is shaking from all the yelling and gun fire he hears. Being able to also hear his own breathing and heartbeat from inside the hiding place, his eyes are closed since he can't see anyways . It's quite dark after Kakashi had blown out the lantern. Growing worried about his captain and Kiba, he hopes that both his friends will live through this. But what will happen once the fight is over? Will Kakashi and Kiba be taken as slaves or sex toys? What will happen to him? Will Naruto be left on the ship by himself?

So many thoughts are whirling about in his head, having not caught wind that the yelling and gunfire has come to a stop. Snapping back to reality when a floorboard squeaks beneath a heavy foot, he can see light through the cracks of his hiding place. Naruto is about to yell out when he remembers what Kakashi said when he said he knows for sure it's a losing battle. The blond immediately shut his mouth, listening closely to the person up above walk around, moving things about in search for something. It's most likely anyone that's in hiding like Naruto's current status. Once the man is standing over him, Naruto holds his breath in fear that his breathing might be too loud. He hopes that the man can't hear his fast beating heart. The man gives a snort as he moves a few barrels and crates around, upturning a few of them that seem rather heavy. The blond takes in a slow breath once he can't hold it anymore, moving his hands to his mouth. He does this to make sure he remains quiet enough. Luckily, the man is making a loud enough racket when he coughs a little. When he's done with the hold, the man begins to walk away. The path he's going is over Naruto's hiding place again. He accidentally slips a little bit of dirt through the cracks. It goes over the blond's nose. Naruto's eyes widen in panic when he feels a sneeze coming on, trying to hold it in until the man is gone. Fate seems to hate him today. Sneezing into his hands, he's unable to hold it in with the itch growing until he accidentally slips, hoping to Kami he won't be found. The footsteps stops about halfway across the room, turning around to come back to where the sneeze sounds like it's coming from. Naruto pulls out his knife from his boot just in case, readying himself if his hiding place is found out. Naruto has forgotten one little thing. When one sneezes once another one is sure to follow suit shortly after the first. Naruto sneezes again, this one sneaks up on him. It surprises him because he doesn't think to expect it to occur.

Giving a chuckle, he's right above the blond's hiding place in seconds. He pulls up the floorboards, not expecting a knife in the throat. It happens once Naruto is set free to move around properly. The man dies quickly while drowning in his own blood, making gurgling noises as he falls to the floor with a heavy thud. Pulling his knife free from the other's chubby neck, Naruto tiptoes his way out of the hold. He makes sure he isn't seen by the other pirates that are still searching through his and his crew's stuff. Being just below deck when a group of men comes running down the stairs makes Naruto hide behind a wall, lying in wait for the pirates to pass by. Once the last one is finally gone, he turns the corner to run into a large chest. Falling onto his ass, blue eyes look up to widen at the height of the other man that looms above him, smirking smugly down at him.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? I knew Kakashi had to be hiding someone."

**_Oks, that's the end of the chappie. I hope you all enjoyed. The next one will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_**


	3. Plunge

**_Hey y'all! Welcome back for the next chappie of Serpent's Temptress. I hope you all are enjoying it so far. I also hope that I'm doing well with the revision. It does take a good amount of time to get things ready to put up so please be patient with me. _**

**_Anyway, let's get on with it. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice comments. _**

**Chapter 2: Plunge **

Dragging Naruto by his hair up the stairs, he goes up to the deck. It's where many men are standing around while a few of the blonde's crew members. They are one's that seem to be alive by the looks of it. Unfortunately, they are a little tied up at the moment against the middle mast. The captain or what appears to be the captain of the pirates turns on his heel when he hears one of his men coming to him. Approaching rather loudly, he smirks at what he's bringing him. The pirate captain is a strange looking man that's rather pale despite being out in the sun all the time. His eyes glow a golden yellow hue. His hair is short and green like a withering plant. The captain wears a black coat much like Kakashi's except it has eight buttons instead of four in the front. It has a red cloud in the back. His black pants are similar to Kakashi's as well. His black leather boots reach down beneath his knees instead of mid-calf.

"Look what Kakashi was hiding," the man holding Naruto says as he throws the blonde to the floor.

The captain pulls up close to the captured blonde, licking his lips at the look of hatred he's receiving while Kakashi drops his head in shame in the background, "My, my, such a beautiful find, Kisame. Such bright blond hair and clear blue eyes, how I might love to see them clouded and broken. Tell me… ….are you from far away? Your hair and the color of your eyes say so, but the shape of your eyes says otherwise."

Naruto remains silent while he continues to glare at his tormentor, spitting in the man's face. The captain closes his eyes when the blond does this. Calmly, he pulls out a handkerchief from his coat to wipe his face. The handkerchief is shortly put away, using the same hand to slap Naruto across the face. It doesn't seem to faze the blonde. Naruto's head only flinches to the side, a smirk spreading on his face as he ignores the pain.

"You bitch!" Kiba yells out from where he's tied next to Kakashi, struggling to get out of his bonds to defend his friend.

"Is that all you got?" Asks Naruto quietly, his smirk turning into a grin that doesn't bode well with the pirate captain. "You seem kind of weak for a captain."

A kick to the gut from Kisame is all he receives for his comment as he gasps and bends over with a cough, holding his stomach, "Do not disrespect Captain Zetsu, you-"

"Enough, Kisame," interrupts Zetsu, a wild look in his eyes that Naruto thinks might have been filled with lust and something that the blonde can't describe. "Hmmm, you seem rather lively. This makes me want to train you into an obedient puppet even more. What a high price you'll make."

"Piss off," snarls out Naruto, the pirate captain ignoring his protest.

Running a gloved finger along the fine jaw, down his capture's neck, he muses, "Quite the skin tone you have. You're definitely a wonderful find. I wonder what it would look like covered in marks and bruises?"

Kakashi tenses up at this, giving a heated glare towards his old captain, "What happened to the 'no touching' policy?"

Zetsu chuckles at this as he glances over towards the bound man, "It changed a few years ago. My human trafficking is booming. It seems more people wish for more sex dolls. So I had to change my tactics. It takes months or years depending on the person to train a human being by harsh words, hard labor, and manipulating. But… …..beating and raping seems a lot more affective these days as long as the wounds have cleared up before they are sold. I must say with taking one's innocence without their consent is rather inviting."

"You bastard," growls Kakashi, eyes glowing in the moonlight, teeth barring at him like a wolf.

The deathly pale man shrugs, "True, I never knew who my father was. I must be just like him to have my mother try to kill me before killing herself."

"What?" Asks Kakashi in shock as he has never known this about his old captain.

A laugh escapes from between his lips, enjoying the look on Kakashi's face, "You aren't so bad yourself. I know for certain you are rather handsome. You have a lovely body. Men aren't the only ones who want sex slaves, you know? Many women are becoming influenced in it too and wish for strong, able men with large dicks. I'm sure you have one."

The white haired man growls again at him. He does look away though, hating the thought of being trained by this man's hand at becoming what he hates the most. Zetsu enjoys other people's pains, loving the game of it; especially when it brings him pleasure. It angers the younger bound captain. What infuriates Kakashi the most is of Naruto becoming something that he has tried to protect him from. He has done his best in keeping the blond safe. Zetsu knows this all too well. This just means that he has a close friendship with him, thinking that bringing pain to the blond will most likely bring pain to the silver haired man as well. Yellow eyes slide past Kakashi, landing on the brunette next to him. He glances over his slightly bruised face. Dark brown eyes filled with hatred glancing back. A smile laced with malice replaces Zetsu's smirk as he remembers that he's the one who has called him a bitch. He doesn't really like being called a woman of ill reputation. The pale captain makes his way softly to them, examining Kiba's face and body build. thinking as he moves over to the male next to the brunette, he notices that this one isn't given the grace of good looks and a wonderful body, he has pimples and incomplete facial hair because of puberty.

With a jerk of his head a couple of Zetsu's men untie the male in particular. Although it's only to slit his throat to dump the body into the sea. The same is done with the rest of the men except for Kiba, Kakashi, Naruto, and Neji. Zetsu ignores him for now to play with his new favorite toy that's still on the ground. Kisame keeps his foot between his shoulder blades to keep him down, restraining him from getting out of reach.

"I rather like this ship. You put a hole in mine. I think I'll take it for the moment," says Zetsu as he gives the boat a once over from what he can see from where he stands.

Ordering half of his men to board the larger boat, it's to take it back and fix it up while the other half stays to help plunder for more ample men that will be considerable prized toys. Of course they'll need more than they already have. So, what if they have standards? They want the best for their clients. Those who are unnecessary are usually killed or used as labor hands on the ship. It depends on what Zetsu deems fit for what duties his men along with their cargo are given assignments for.

"Now, today we'll start our first lesson. It will be of obedience," he glances down at the blond that has stopped struggling to lie there on the floor. "I think we'll start with you. I'll make sure it's painful enough for that rude comment of yours along with killing one of my men."

"What about this one, captain?" one of the crew members asks as he fingers Neji's soft brown hair.

"Hmmm," murmurs Zetsu in contemplation.

"Can't we have a go at him?" He licks his lips over his yellow teeth, slobbering a little which the long haired brunette draws his head to the side in disgust.

Zetsu rolls his eyes, shaking his head, "We can't do all of them at once. They need to be trained properly or they'll certainly break in a way that won't be good. I'll show you how it's done correctly."

Naruto's eyes widen when he sees the evil captain walking towards him. Moving with a look of lust by madness in his eyes, he begins to struggle beneath the larger man's foot. The foot is taken off, but Kisame kneels down to now hold him down with a few other men. They are stripping the blond of his clothes. From the sidelines the other pirates are smirking and cheering for their captain. Zetsu is now kneeling in front of the blond while Kiba and Kakashi thrash in their bindings, yelling obscenities at the crew. Neji is too afraid to really say anything. The blond is pushed to the ground on his stomach, having his ass in the air, a delicious sight to behold for Zetsu. Chuckling as he runs a hand around a tan globe, he smacks it to give a satisfied groan when it ripples just a little.

"You're tan everywhere I see. That's very good with such a firm round ass that still ripples when smacked. Mmm, that's just…delectable. I'm sure I'll enjoy this," murmurs Zetsu lowly to himself although Naruto is more than able to hear him easily.

The rustling of clothing alerts Naruto. It makes him tense, feeling something hot and hard squeeze between his cheeks. A pair of hands squeezing the globes together around that hard appendage. Naruto doesn't need to look to know what it is. Clenching his eyes closed, shut, he prepares himself for the painful penetration. For some reason it never comes. Zetsu's crown is just kissing the blond's entrance when something hits the side of the boat, being a quite forceful slam against the hull.

Everyone yells out in surprise when the ship tips dangerously to the side, causing everyone except for the bound men to be thrown over to the side. This makes the men holding Naruto down to let go of him. They need to take care of themselves. The blond is quick on his feet to act once he has his balance. Grabbing a nearby sword, it's been something dropped When he has a firm hold on it, he runs over for his crew. Deftly, he cuts the ropes away from them, grabbing Kiba before the brunette can lose his head and attack the pirates. They are all just righting themselves, making his way to one of the many life boats.

Once Kiba, Kakashi, and Neji are all on board whatever has hit the boat hits once again. It causes Naruto to lose his footing on the railing to fall into the water below. Kiba cries out for him, trying to dive in after him except is held back by Neji. The boat is quickly dropped into the water before their tormentors can re-catch them. They row hastily away swiftly into the night, being thankful that a small fog begins to form to hide them from the pirates.

"Naruto!" Yells out Kiba into the fog, listening closely until he doesn't receive an answer to try shouting again though louder this time. "NARUTO!"

"Quiet, you idiot," hisses Neji. "I like to keep my innocence from those brutes thank you very much. I don't hear them being attacked by that whale anymore. Is that normal, Kakashi?"

"Hmmm?" Asks Kakashi, seeming a little out of sorts.

"Is that normal? I mean for a whale to hit a ship?" He gives his captain, that seems to be brooding while Neji throws him a look of disbelief.

"No, it's not. That whale must have been possessed or it might have been a miracle that some deity has given us," snaps Kakashi, rowing a little harder, causing the short haired brunette to row a little harder as well.

"No need to snap," whispers Neji under his breath, but he does feel worried about the blond as well even though he doesn't really know him very well. "What will happen now?"

"We'll either die of hunger, get eaten by sharks, or land on an island with cannibals," the silver haired man growls out, earning a smack to the back of his head by Kiba, grey eyes turn to glare although he isn't expecting brown eyes to glare right back at him..

"There is no need to bring your anger out on Neji, captain," the short haired brunette states with a hint of irritation. "I'm angry as 'hell too. I'm not yellin' at poor Neji 'here or you for that matter. So get a grip. Naruto might be dead for all we know."

Grimacing at the thought of the loud and kind blond being gone, he also feels guilty by the way he's acting towards Neji. All of them must be a little high strung. None of them know where their lost crew mate might be. It's worrisome indeed to think the worse case scenario.

"Sorry," he mumbles, earning a small smile from the stronger brunette beside him.

"It's ok. Le'ts just pray that we'll find land soon."

()()()()()

Blue eyes wince as Naruto begins to come out of the darkness. Waking up to the sun, blinking a few times as it's shining down on him. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore echo in his ears, feeling hot despite being naked. His backside feels gritty though doesn't feel comfortable. Attempting to becoming used to the brightness, when he feels ok enough he gingerly sits up with a groan. His body is completely sore all over, feeling disgusting though from what he has no idea. The last thing he recalls is falling off of the lifeboat. He wonders if the other members of the crew and their Captain made it out alive. He hopes they won't see those nasty pirates again, shuddering at the thought, hoping he'll be able to rid himself of such people. Although it has him wondering as to how he manages to wash ashore here. He might of drowned, but nope. It seems that he's on this nameless island, feeling as if it's familiar to him. Is he supposed to know this place? He isn't entirely sure about it.

"Where am I?" Naruto asks himself as he examines his surroundings.

Being at a beach with blue-green water and white sand, the beach seems to go on for miles on both sides of him. Behind him can be seen a jungle full of plants and trees. Naruto has never seen them before, thinking they're quite large. He stands up on his feet, grimacing at the sand rubbing in places they aren't supposed to be. He goes down to the water, hoping he'll be able to wash it off.

"What happened?" grumbles out Naruto, knowing it's a rhetorical question.

Being Abel to recall a certain point, he sighs in furstration. After he had fallen, he comes across a blank. Cursing at his bad luck, he kicks up some sand in his anger. Now, where are his friends and captain? What has happened to them? Are they alright? He only has questions that can't be given answers at the moment. It infuriates him, having no idea if they managed to wash up here too. Sighing in resignation, he figures that he can't worry about the unknown. What he needs is to survive, taking a left turn he follows the sand in hopes he can probably find something useful. The white sand is kind of nice and hot against his feet. The breeze dries his skin, keeping him cool even though he's going to have to find some water and a container for it. Though he'll think about that later when he feels dehydration kick in. Right now, he needs to find something to eat first, feeling like he's starving. This brings him to the decision of that he will look for anything edible..

When he glances back at the jungle, Naruto begins debating on whether or not to waste time fishing by hand or go in there to find fruit. He thinks that there probably are dangerous creatures in the jungle though. He doesn't even know what type of creatures reside here. Unfortunately, his stomach decides for him by giving a large growl. The blond sighs, beginning to make his way to the jungle. He wishes that he has some shoes when he sees the ground is covered in dirt with sharp rocks and grass has his hunger quickly dissipating with that precise thought.

Blue eyes glance from tree to tree, bush to bush, and one point of the ground to another. It isn't until he's rather far in until he comes across a tree covered in little red monkeys with white faces. They are eating a strange looking fruit. It's purple on the outside, but green on the inside. The fruit must be edible since the monkeys are eating them. Naruto begins to make his way up the large gnarly tree, clambering up to the lowest branch that has a couple of the fruit. A monkey that's sitting on that branch is not particularly happy at the human coming towards it.

Wrapping his hands and legs around the branch, he scoots his way along the thick branch as he reaches out for the fruit. The monkey scoots close to scratched his hand, thinking the blond is trying to hurt him. Naruto yelps out at the scratch, bringing his hand up to his mouth, sucking on the painful wound. Glaring daggers towards the animal, the monkey yells at him angrily, baring its short teeth in warning. Naruto isn't at all scared, snarling back loudly that has the little animal jump to another branch with an angry yell. Smirking in victory, he grabs the fruit, pulling it from its leafy nest. It feels nice and smooth in his hand. Sitting back on his ass, he brings the fruit to his mouth, taking a small hesitant bite. Sweet nectar floods into his mouth, dribbling a little down his chin. The flesh of it is soft, but gummy. It tastes delicious to him. There are many tiny white seeds. It irritates the blond. Whenever he takes a bite, having to spit out five to six seeds. He might of swallowed them, but he doesn't know if they are toxic or harmless. Hell, he doesn't know if the fruit itself is even safe for humans to eat.

Finishing off his breakfast, he grabs another one to finish it off quickly. The nectar inside the fruit quenches his thirst. The blond grabs a couple more, dropping them to the ground on a grassy spot. That way he can climb down without anything in his arms. When he goes to grab for one last fruit that's hidden beneath one of the large leaves the tree holds there is a rather large spider. It comes crawling out onto his hand. Somehow he disturbs its nest. The blond cries out in shock, shaking his hand to fling the insect into the tree next to him. In doing so he loses his balance to slide off the smooth branch with his arms flailing down into the grassy area where his fruit is. His landing causes him to unfortunately squish most of them with his back. Naruto groans in pain, not pleased at the sticky residue against him. He lies there until the world stops spinning, rising up onto his feet with a hiss and curse. Taking a few deep breaths to settle his stomach, he tries to recompose himself.

Grabbing whatever fruit that hasn't been squished, Naruto begins to make his way back to the beach. There is one problem though. Where is the beach? Which direction has he come from? Giving another curse at his idiocy, Naruto drops his fruit to pick a random direction to follow. Stomping as he goes, he ends up disturbing the small critters around him. Pushing aside plants out of his way, he jumps over large roots or fallen trees, not knowing that there's a pair of piercing red eyes watching his every move from the shadows.

"This place sucks balls," whines Naruto from where he sits on a tree stump, feeling somewhat uncomfortable on his bare rear. "But it's better than being with those pirates…. Now, if only I have some clothes to protect my dick and rear from certain issues."

Sticking out his tongue, he taps it against his nose. A tune suddenly pops into his head. It's a song that his mother used to sing to him. It was used to lull him to sleep. Having no friends there, he feels sorrow welling up in him at the thought of his deceased mother and father. He feels rather lonely. The song he's thinking of is about loneliness. His mother used to sing it to him because he had no one back where they used to live. He often would feel alone.

His lips curl into a small smile, beginning to sing it, "_Child of the wilderness, born into emptiness, learn to be lonely; learn to find your way in darkness. Who will be there for you? Comfort and care for you? Learn to be lonely; learn to be your one companion-"_

_Snap_!

Standing up, his head whirls around to find the source of where the noise is coming from. He readies himself in case he needs to run if it's a large animal. Although he's not expecting for a series of snaps from broken twigs. There is rustling shortly following by a quiet voice.

"Please don't stop singing," the voice begs a little hoarsely like it hasn't been in use for a while, making Naruto gasp to jump away a few steps from a bush that the voice has come from. "It was rather lovely."

"W-Who are you?" Asks the blonde with a stutter, shaking from where he stands, hearing more rustling before he sees the upper body of a person that pokes out from atop of the bushes that have been his hiding place.

Jumping back, he loses his balance to fall onto his ass. The man before him appears to be naked. Naruto can't tell since the lower half and a portion of the man's belly is hidden by the leaves. Black hair flutters over the man's shoulders and back, long bangs frames his pale yet handsome face. The tips of his pointed ears are poking out from beneath the blackness. He has piercing red eyes that stare right into Naruto's blue orbs. A few thin braids with a few beads in them are littering around his head. There is an animal tooth tied to the ends of them. The stranger appears to be harmless, having a remorseful expression on his face. It seems that he doesn't mean to scare him like this.

"My name is Itachi. What's yours? There hasn't been a visitor such as yourself here in years," replies the man, sounding a little louder than before to appear to be not as hoarse as he initially has been.

"Naruto, where am I?" Asks the blonde, a little wary as he doesn't know this male although he feels as if he is supposed to know this place for some strange reason, uncertain why he keeps on feeling that way.

"Floral Island."

**_Oks, that's the end of the chappie. I hope you all enjoyed. The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_**


	4. Constrict

**_Hey y'all! Here's the next chappie of Serpent's Temptress for y'all. Well, it seems I'm able to break it up nicely enough. That way it doesn't take me too long to revise and update it. Hehes _**

**_Anyway, I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice comments. _**

**Chapter 3: Constrict **

"Floral Island? I don't remember there being such a place," he murmurs, his eyes are wide with awe as he gazes at the interesting looking man although he feels a bit nervous in the stranger's presence.

The raven haired man chuckles, somehow easing Naruto's worry, "That's because humans aren't supposed to know about this place."

Itachi gasps suddenly, covering his mouth with his hands, looking afraid as he glances around. He becomes stiff, not knowing if he's being watched. Of course he can easily fight whoever may try to attack. Remaining on guard, he doesn't think this human will at all prove harmful. Although he recalls the last time there has been a human here On second though, he looks similar to the one he's conversing with at the current moment. Frowning, he wonders if there's some connection between the two.

"W-What do you mean?" Stammers out Naruto, his nervous demeanor returning with Itachi's unease.

Itachi shakes his head before he begins to disappear into the bushes again, leaving in a flash causing Naruto to run into the bushes, trying to give chase after him. Unfortunately, the man is already gone, making him recall what Itachi has said before he retreated.

_"Don't tell anyone you saw me." _

Scratching the side of his head, he feels confused by that interaction as he steps out from the bushes, "Well, that was weird. But if he's here there must be others. I hope they're not as odd as him."

This makes him wonder what the stranger means about humans aren't supposed to be here. Also, he wants to know why he said to tell no one that they have met. Sighing out of frustration, he doubts that he'll find any answers anytime soon. Besides, he doesn't know where he's going in this place. What he hopes is that he won't run into any unpleasant company. The thought of humans nags at the back of his brain, feeling like he needs to know or remember something. It's on the tip of his tongue, but he can't quite reach it.

"Great, more questions with no answers," he throws his arms up in frustration before plopping back down on the stump before Itachi had crossed his path.

This place is really starting to get on the blond's nerves. The place is overly hot and humid. He has yet to see any creeks, lakes, or rivers. The ground is not too soft on his bare feet, being still naked. How can this day get any worse? Sighing, he feels so uncertain of what he needs to do now. Being stuck here, there seems to be no way off of this island. At least that's what he thinks, being in for an unpleasant surprise soon enough. Suddenly, something or rather someone tackles Naruto to the ground. There is something smooth and hard, wrapping around his entire body. The blond looks up to come face to face with a red haired, green eyed, pale skinned man. For some reason he's hissing, showing his rather large fangs. Naruto's eyes widen in fear, trying to struggle away though something is squeezing his body tightly every time he tries to escape. He almost screams at seeing his body engulfed in snake skin. Blue eyes follow the snake's body around him and up to the man. He's a naga, meaning he's human above the waist while below it he's all serpentine.

"Oh my Kami," he breathes out before allowing darkness to claim him once more, hoping when he wakes up from his unconscious state that he won't be met with another nightmare.

()()()()()

"You've got to be kidding me," hisses Neji underneath his breath as he listens to Kiba and Kakashi go at it again for what seemed like the fifth time today, causing him to smack his forehead in frustration.

"Admit it! You got us lost!" Kiba yells from where he sits, nose to nose with his captain, glaring heatedly at the man.

"No, I didn't!" Kakashi snaps. "How can I get us lost when we were already lost to begin with?"

"That's exactly what I'm sayin'! We got lost to start with because of you!" Kiba pauses, thinking over what he just said to make sure it makes sense before he nods to himself, continuing his glaring match with the silver haired male.

"What are you talking about? We were attacked by pirates and then we escaped through the fog. How is it my fault that we got lost for trying to save our hides?" Kakashi holds down a smirk of victory when the brunette opens his mouth to reply, but he snaps it shut when he can't find anything to argue back with. "When we were captured no one was watching the wheel. How am I supposed to navigate through a fog?"

"The man's right," admits Kiba, looking away to glare out angrily at the ocean that no longer holds the fog. "Whatever. Can you navigate now that we're out of the fog?"

"It's daytime… I don't have a compass," Kakashi sighs, glad some of their arguing is over with although he feels sure Kiba has more fire left to use.

"Oh, great! This is just fuckin' perfect! Stupid pirates! Stupid ocean! Arg, I'm going to bite someone in the face," Kiba kicks the side of the boat, hurting his toes. "Ah, fuck!"

Neji eyes the bigger brunette with a raised eyebrow. He finds it amusing to see the usually calm and level tempered man freak out. Kakashi rolls his eyes. Smacking the man across the face, he pushes Kiba down onto the seat. He has been standing before. Kiba doesn't like that very much, punching the man back once their captain has reseated himself. Eventually the two break out into a full blown out brawl. It causes the boat to tip to the side dangerously. It makes Neji cry out for the others to stop, not entirely sure if it'll even work though wishes that these two will put aside their differences. Squabbling out here on a life raft won't solve their matters at hand. When the fighting men finally fall over the side of the rowboat Neji stops. He guesses that it's kind of useless trying to halt them with words. Instead, he just watches the men try to attack each other in the water, but they are having a lot of difficulty from the water resistance. The additional weight to their bodies doesn't improve their situation. The long haired man sighs, dropping his head into his hands for his elbows to rest on his knees. It helps to keep his head up, flinching as he yelps when the men splash to the side of him. They accidentally toss some water on him, cooling him down considerably fast to cause him to feel a little cold from the wind picking up.

Neji feels pissed off and sad because of Naruto and his wet hair. At the same time Neji doesn't know what to do with himself. So, he begins searching the boat for something to hit either Kakashi or Kiba. During his search he catches sight of something from the corner of his eye. Turning his head to see what it is, lilac eyes widen at the sight, dropping the oar that he has picked up earlier, he's going to use it to bash against the other's skulls.

"Hey guys, look over there!" Calls out Neji to the others that have floated a few feet away, his words falling on deaf ears. "Guys? Guys?! Hey, fuckers!"

He finally ends up screaming at the top of his lungs with his hands cupping around his mouth, gathering the fighting men's attentions, "Look over there!"

Pointing in front of him, it's behind the silver haired captain and the stronger brunette, causing them to look back at what the man on the boat is pointing at. Their eyes widen considerably upon what they see. There are big grins on their faces as they quickly swim on back to the boat. Land has been spotted a bit ahead of them. Neji sits back at the stern when the two men climb back in. There's some water dripping off of them, flying everywhere as they begin to row their way in the direction of the island. It's pretty close, not taking them long to reach a part of the beach. It seems to surround the island. it's rather beautiful in comparison to all the other shores they have landed or docked at in the past.

Once the boat hits the sand Kiba immediately jumps out. Beginning to roll around in the sand, he cries out in joy at its warmness. He notices that it sticks to his wet clothes. Kakashi jumps out as well, but he lies down on his back to enjoy the hot sun against his face as well as the warm sand against his back. Neji is obviously more graceful in getting out, sitting on a washed up log instead of laying down on the ground. There can be seen a small smile spreading across his cheeks.

All their happiness is cut short when their stomachs growl in hunger. Their mouths feel dry too from thirst. They are a little hesitant about going into the forest. They don't want to waste any time catching fish by hand. So, they all begin their journey into the jungle, looking every which way to find some food. It isn't until something falls out of a tree and hits Kiba on the head quite hard that accompanies a screech from a monkey that they find something to quench their growing hunger. The three of them peer up in relief at the fruit. It appears edible since monkeys are eating it, beginning to climb up to get some, ending up scaring the monkeys away. The fruit is shaped like bananas except they are a different color. Their texture is different as well, but they taste delicious. They seem to be full of sugary fluids that quenches both their thirst and hunger. All of them eat until their stomachs feel satisfactory, sitting down at the bottom of the tree with small grins on their faces.

"Hey captain?" Neji pipes up, breaking the comfortable silence without glancing away from the darkening sky, continuing to do so when Kakashi makes a questioning noise in response. "Where do you think we are? Do you think it's safe here?"

The silver haired male shrugs, not particularly caring at the moment, "I don't know. I haven't seen any familiar constellations…. That's weird. The stars are already out while the sun is just now going down. I don't remember ever seeing this island before whenever I cross the oceans."

"What does that mean?" Kiba mutters, not liking having to converse with their so called captain due to their seemingly unresolvable issues.

Chewing on a blade of grass as he thinks, he looks back up to the sky to search for familiar surroundings, "This is weird. I've never seen this part of the sky before."

"Do you think we might have discovered something?" Asks Kiba from the other side of Neji, yawning loudly, stretching as he accidentally smacks an arm into the younger brunette's face, earning a smack in return as Neji doesn't at all appreciate the violence.

"Maybe, but I have a feeling we're not supposed to be here," mumbles out kakashi. "I'm not worried though. I feel content for some reason."

Yawning, he scratches his belly. He does feel confused at why he's becoming so drowsy. They have worked hard for that past few days with a few rests here and there. They are all just fine a few minutes ago. The confusion is soon replaced with a peace of mind while his eyes struggle to stay open, unable to fight it for very long. His vision soon becomes fuzzy. The last thing the captain sees before darkness claims him is the silhouette of a man with his legs replaced with a long serpentine tail.

()

"_What is the village like daddy?" a small blond which looked to be around four or five asked excitedly, eyes wide and intense while watching an older tall blond speak who told a tale that Naruto had yet to hear._

_"It was as beautiful as its people!" Minato exclaimed happily from where he sat on the edge of his son's bed. "They didn't have houses like ours. Instead they all slept in hollows of huge trees. Each tree could fill a family of twenty. They were connected with long bridges made out of vines. They hardly go out of the village unless they're hunting or going out to make another village which was rare. The making of new villages I mean."_

_"How many villages were there?" he asked his father._

_"Mmm, the last time I was there I remember there were about ten. Keep in mind they're small compared to the main village in the middle of the island. Their lord lives there in the largest tree on the island. The inside has been carved out into the lord's liking," Minato smirked at his son's face, blue eyes wide, mouth agape, and not a single wrinkle or crease in sight. "I've been there once when I was captured. The creature who runs the island was so handsome and perfect, but I could see the darkness inside of him just by looking into his eyes. I always wondered how anyone could marry a man like him."_

_"Was he married, papa?" Naruto asked._

_"Yes, he was to a beautiful male red haired snake. He looked weak on the outside, but he had a strong heart. He looked out for me. I could tell that Madara truly loved this creature because every time he laid eyes on his mate those cold black eyes would soften a bit," the older blond smiled to himself when he remembered the red snake defended him and easily won the fight. "Nagato was very intelligent. He helped out with our escape."_

_"Were there other nice snake people?" Naruto laid back with his covers up to his chin, eyes blinking tiredly as he yawned._

_"A few, but that was because they were curious. They grew to know me while the others were too scared. They hated me. Now, I think it's time for bed," Minato tucked his little boy in with a soft smile while his eyes shined brightly with love._

_Naruto didn't argue and fell asleep while his father petted his head, "Goodnight, my son." _

()

Sitting up sharply, he pants lightly as he breaks out into a cold sweat. Looking around to see no one, Naruto falls back down with a sigh. Sitting back up, he has another look around. Naruto scrunches his eyebrows together as he takes in the new surroundings, lying down on a mat out of straw. There is also a thin sheet out of the finest hair. He doesn't want to find out what it's from. It covers his lower regions. In front of him is a large opening that leads outside. The walls around him are all out of wood. They are kind of misshapen with a few things hanging from them. This includes jewelry, a freshly caught rabbit or two, and a bucket filled with cold water.

The blond's mouth waters at the sight of the small clear pool. Crawling over towards it to have a sip though before he can even dunk his head in the water something that feels like a whip smacks him in the back of the head.

"You better not drink that if you wish to bathe," a quiet voice says, making Naruto spin around, causing him to freeze with his mouth falling agape in shock. "Don't look at me like that. it's creepy."

How can Naruto not stare at the creature like this? The 'man' before him has the torso of a human, but a few inches beneath his navel shows his skin slowly begin to change into smooth scales. It changes from black to yellow, to red, to yellow, and black again. The color combination repeats itself until blue eyes reach the end of the tail. The human part of the stranger has pale skin, blood red hair, foamy green eyes, and pointed ears. They are like the raven man's from before, wearing nothing to show that he isn't very muscular. He might of been shorter than Naruto if he had legs.

"You're-" Naruto is cut off by the naga.

"A coral snake? I presume that's what you're wondering," the redhead interjects, unknowingly making the blond even more afraid at learning he's poisonous.

"N-No, that's not actually it, but thanks for telling me anyways," Naruto laughs nervously, scratching his cheek, terror flickering in his eyes as the snake does look familiar to him. "I just can't believe you're actually real."

A nonexistent eyebrow lifts in confusion, giving the human his full attention with narrowing eyes though in turn it makes the blond pale, "What do you mean? It's impossible for someone like you to know about us. We only know about you humans because of all the junk that washes up on our beaches."

"So, it's true," whispers out Naruto to himself in amazement. "Father's stories were real. Everything he told me really happened."

Yelping when the snake suddenly pushes him onto the floor, he shows Naruto how strong he really is. Green eyes are glaring down at him curiously. His sharp teeth are clearly shown, baring them menacingly at him. Naruto tries with all of his might to remain still. Of course it isn't easy when fight or flight mode is in action.

"Who are you? Who was your father? How did he know about us?" the redhead asks quickly, scaring the blond which makes him shrink away from the snake. "Tell me or I'll kill you right now!"

"M-My father u-used to tell me s-stories about this place w-when I was a c-child because h-he said h-he's been h-here b-before!" Naruto cries out hurriedly, blue eyes wide as he stares at the redhead as if saying silently to him to spare his life.

The creature doesn't seem to be backing off though as he presses down harder on Naruto's bound wrists, holding them in his grasp, "Who is your father? Tell me before I break your arm!"

To prove himself that he's being serious the snake lets go of the blond's left hand. He does this before grabbing it again, bending it at an odd angle. It will surely break Naruto's arm if the redhead presses anymore. Naruto has thought that he shouldn't tell this creature. He still feels awestruck that his father hadn't been telling him tales he made up. They are all real, wondering if somehow landing in this place he'll be able to find some answers. He wants to know about his father's life. Words can only say so much. He wants to see what this island is really like. Besides he has nowhere else to go. He might as well do it.

Naruto cries out in pain, biting his lip, closing his eyes and turning his head away. He has never before come across anyone who makes him submissive like this. He is rather an excellent fighter. The slightest touch from this creature has him quivering in fear. The urge to run away runs harshly through him, keeping his mouth shut out of horror. He keeps his eyes closed, not having to see the terrifying look the creature is giving him. This pisses the snake off immensely. It causes more pain to erupt for Naruto when the redhead bends the arm just a little more, right on the verge of breaking.

"Tell me now!" he demands, knowing Naruto will eventually give in sooner or later unless he wants a broken arm.

Naruto's eyes opens from the immense pain, crying out as tears prick at the corners of his eyes, but he can't dare to look at the snake, "M-Minato…"

"You lie," the redhead hisses out. "You can't be the son of Minato because then that makes you the son of… Kushina…"

"I-I'm not," promises Naruto, coughing as he regains his breath from almost being choked to death.

"If you're still alive than that means they are as well," his eyes light up in joy, but one look from Naruto's eyes has him shaking his head in disbelief and sorrow. "No, they can't be…"

Naruto looks away, feeling misery welling up inside him at the thought that he might of taken something away from the snake, "Yes, they are. Mother grew sick and father… was ran over by a carriage."

Naruto gulps at seeing the redheaded serpent giving him a deadly glare as he warns, "This is all your fault! If you-"

"I know it is," interrupts Naruto quietly, sitting up, but keeps his gaze down. "If I hadn't been born none of this would've happened. I'm the one who killed my mother. I'm the one who had my father taken away when all he wanted to do was apologize. It's good to hear someone agrees with me."

If the blond had taken a look up, he might of caught sight of the guilty look the redhead is making. The snake is biting his bottom lip, watching the human cry. He wonders idly what he needs to do. When he hears the blond actually agree that he's at fault it makes the snake feel terrible for what he just said and done. This human is in as much pain as he is. It makes him confused on what is happening here. The human seems in distress as well. It seems to be at the point where he finally snaps, having given into his emotions at last. The snake can't help himself, feeling a little worrisome as well. The blond is sleeping, talking, and crying in his sleep. When the redhead hears that the human has heard about this place he lost it. He became angry. Sighing, he hopes that he'll be able to remedy his mistakes against him.

"Gaara, is everything alright up there? I thought I heard yelling," a feminine voice from outside calls, making the redhead curse and the blond to lift his head up in confusion at the language, having never heard it before. "Oh, dear. Gaara, what is this?"

"Nothing, Ino. Go away," the redhead snaps grumpily at her.

The woman snorts, climbing the rest of the way in fearlessly. Her yellow snake tail follows after her. Her hair is bleach blond, but looks dull in comparison to Naruto's. It's fairly long, tied back as a long bang falls over her right eye. Her eyes are azure blue while her breasts are covered in a purple garment that's held up. It's tied around her neck and around her sides. The clothing stops a few inches below her breasts, showing off her tone stomach. The scales she has don't look smooth enough to touch. Maybe if someone pets them backwards, but if someone goes back up that person will surely hurt themselves.

"How can I go away now that I've seen this?" the female snaps back at the redhead, but her face softens considerably when she gazes down at Naruto. "And look what you've done! You made him cry!"

"It was my fault," Gaara grumbles under his breath, hoping she doesn't hear him.

Her snake half curls around the human's body as well as her arms, attempting to comfort him as Ino makes sure to be careful with her scales, trying not to hurt him as she holds him, "What is your name, sweetie?"

"He doesn't speak our language. He speaks that one language the humans call English. It's weird since his father spoke Japanese," Gaara mumbles, curling up by the door, laying his human half on top of his snake half as he doesn't need to see that Ino is surprise by what he just said. "Yes, the human's father was Minato…"

"Oh, really? How wonderful that they were able to escape and have their child!" Ino cries out, hugging Naruto tighter. "Are they with him?"

Gaara shakes his head, a small glint of sadness glistening in his eyes as he turns away, "No, they're gone…"

"Oh," the yellow snake looks down sadly as she continues to cradle Naruto that's given up on trying to figure what they are saying while he remains in her arms. "You poor baby. You look so much like your father."

"You know my father?" Naruto asks, looking up at the gentle woman, feeling safe in her arms even though he knows that she can turn on him in seconds. "Why are you being so kind to me?"

"Yes, I know your father. I am being kind to you because that's how I've been taught by my parents. Just because we're different doesn't mean we have to feel prejudice towards one another."

**_Oks, that's the end of the chappie. I hope you all enjoyed. Y'all get a double update today just because I got this next one done quickly. The next one will be out whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_**


	5. Ripple

**_Hey y'all! Here we are with the next chappie for Serpent's Temptress. I hope you all are enjoying it so far. Hehes _**

**_Anyway, I'll cut the chatter short. I know y'all want to get to the story. So, please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice comments. _**

**Chapter 4: Ripple **

**"**Bathe and then rest," says Ino sternly.

"But how do you know my father?" Asks Naruto, knowing he does need to wash up and sleep even though his mind is stopping him a little from getting it done.

She shushes him, urging him to begin cleaning himself as she says softly, "I'll tell you tomorrow. Just bathe and then go to sleep over there."

Pointing over towards the mat where he has woken up, earlier, Ino leaves him to go talk to Gaara while the blond man gets busy. Naruto feels a headache coming on, having so many questions that want answers. Still trying to come to terms, he can tell that this place is definitely real. It's not make believe as he previously thought when he was younger. Hopefully that knowing this will ease his predicament, but he doubts it. He doesn't even know what to expect amongst these odd creatures. He knows that they're stronger than him, poisonous, and sometimes unpredictable. He needs to remind himself that he can't provoke any of them.

Staying quiet for a few moments before the redhead whispers, "You know we're going to have to bring him to Madara tomorrow, right?"

Ino nods her head, having a small glint of fear in her eyes, whispering back to him, "I don't want to do it though. Who knows what he might do to the human once he learns he's Minato's son."

"We have to. If we don't then Madara will surely have our heads. But I'm sure Nagato will stick up for the human. He might be able to live among us," Gaara tries to reassure her, a crease forming between his non-existent eyebrows as his eyes narrow a little while he doesn't have faith in what he says, feeling concern for the human's life as he knows all too well what fate will be awaiting him if the lord figures out the truth.

"I hope so," Ino places a hand on the redhead's shoulder, causing him to look up at her as he knows that this is an order instead of a request. "I have to go home now. You'll watch over him, right?"

"Why do I have to be stuck with him?" the redheaded snake asks himself, looking back to see the blond man lying himself down on the mat on his side as he pulls the sheet up to his chin. "Why do I have to give him my wall hangings to sleep on?"

Waking at the crack of dawn isn't something Naruto has in mind, having just fallen asleep a couple of hours ago before someone's shaking him again. Groaning in annoyance, he rolls away from the hands. The person who's trying to wake him suddenly whips him in the ass rather sharply. This has the blond jumping up, rubbing his sore ass for him now to be fully awake. Glaring at whoever has hit him before his eyes widen at the redhead snake before him until he remembers who the creature is, he guesses that he's overreacting here.

"What do you want? I'm tired since I didn't get much sleep last night," growls out Naruto, yawning widely as he stretches.

Gaara snorts, "I have to take you to see Madara."

"Shit," hisses Naruto under his breath.

Looking away, he grits his teeth at the wide eyed look the blond is giving him, "I'm guessing your father has told you about him."

Naruto nods while looking down, gulping loudly, "Are we going now or can I get something to cover my loins with?"

He looks up with a blush while he stands up, covering his privates with his hands. He rolls his eyes when Gaara only tilts his head in confusion. It seems that the serpentine male doesn't quite understand certain aspects that humans need.

"My penis, do you have something I can cover it up with?" Naruto is blushing a deep shade of crimson by the time Gaara seems to understand.

Realization dawns on the snake before he shakes his head, looking down where the blond is covering himself, "Doesn't your penis retract?"

"Huh?" Now it's Naruto's turn to be confused. "Retract?"

"Yeah, like mine," Gaara takes two of his fingers to slide it inside a slit in front where his penis might have been if he were human. "When I'm excited my penis gets hard. It comes out through here. When I'm not it stays inside so it isn't in the way. Doesn't yours do that?"

The blond's head almost explodes at the mental image the explanation has brought up as he's so embarrassed, "No, sadly humans dicks just hang there."

"So that's what a human's penis looks like and you also call it dicks? How fascinating. I didn't get a good look at it while I was carrying you to my home," the snake examines it as Naruto moves his hands away for the redhead to take a look from where he stands or sat, feeling the temaption rise to reach out to feel it. "It's so different from ours."

Naruto squeaks out, covering himself up again, glaring at the redhead, "There's no need to stare. it's embarrassing! Now, can you please get me something to cover myself up?"

Gaara smirks at the human's reaction, picking up the sheet that he has been using before, throwing it over at him, "Are you always this apprehensive?"

The redhead chuckles when Naruto tries to figure out a way to tie the sheet made out of fine hair around his waist as the blond lifts an eyebrow, giving another glare at the snake, "No, not usually. But look at the situation I'm in! How can I not be anxious, terrified or easily surprised? I don't even know your name!"

"It's Gaara," the naga replies calmly. "And yours?"

Eliciting a sigh, he answers, "It's Naruto."

"Interesting name….. Now if you're done, shall we go?" The redhead motions the blond to follow him before he begins to slither out of the opening.

Naruto follows after him, being about to take a step out until he notices how high he up he is. He decides that he'll jump back before inching his way forward again. Looking down to see Gaara curling around the tree trunk to slither down until he reaches a bridge made out of vines, Naruto looks for a way down himself only to see that there are no branches to climb down. Gaara is already too far away to hear him. What? Does the snake think he can exactly do the same thing he can? He releases a shaky sigh at seeing how high up he is. Naruto contemplates on jumping for the vine bridge since Gaara is most likely not coming back for him. Taking a deep breath Naruto takes a leap of faith, aiming for the vines for his arms and legs to spread out to slow down his fall. His eyes pinpoints on where he's supposed to grab, trying to aim for it as best as he can. Smirking when his hands come in contact with one of the vines for his fingers to not wrap around it fast enough, the rest of his falling body pulls him down, away from the vine.

"Shit!" he cries out as his body loses control, spinning widely as he falls as he doesn't expect for something to wrap around him that stops his fall.

"What are you thinking?" Scolds Ino.

Looking up, he sighs in relief when he sees that it's Ino that has curled around the tree as she glances at him like he's crazy, "Oh Kami, thank you."

"What the hell are you doing? You could have died, you idiot!" Ino yells while lifting him up so she can smack him on top of the head. "I was just on my way to come get you while Gaara went ahead to give the heads up to Madara. Were you trying to escape or what?"

Ino lifts the blond man onto her back, having Naruto hang on while she slithers down the tree and across the bridge as he replies, "Gaara sent you to get me? Oh, I thought Gaara was expecting me to follow him down. He didn't say anything about getting you to come for me."

"Gaara isn't the best with communication," she sighs in annoyance.

Leaning against the woman's back, he sits to her heartbeat, "Oh, I see."

Ino sighs again, "Sounds like something that stupid coral snake might do. Hey, what's your name? I haven't had the chance to ask yet."

"It's Naruto. What's yours?" Replies the blonde as he holds the snake tighter when he notices all the curious glares and questioning stares from the other snake folk that are crawling about, slithering from one tree to the next although they only stop to have a closer look at the stranger that's on Ino's back.

"Ino," she glares at the others, hissing at them to get lost and go about their business. "I can tell you are rather frightened. I would be too if I was in your situation."

"Thanks," he mutters, uncertain if he can feel better knowing she's trying to comfort him.

The blond snake reaches behind, patting Naruto's sheet clothed thigh, "But your land…..what's it like?"

Giving a shrug, he answers, "We don't live in trees for one thing. Our bridges are made out of metal, wood, or stones. They're not made out of vines, but maybe they are in some places, but they're being replaced with new modern technology. Our homes are also made out of wood or bricks. They're sometimes made out of metal if they're large buildings like the factory my father used to work at before he was fired."

"Fired? Was your father burned to death?" Ino asks after gasping, her wide eyes staring back at the human, making Naruto chuckle a little.

"No, no, fired is a term we use when our bosses no longer need us or want us. So, they tell us to leave and never come back by telling us we're fired. My dad's boss fired him because he no longer needed him when he acquired what he wanted. Too bad dad didn't make him suffer when he killed him," a scowl grows on Naruto's face as he remembers the bastard Gatou that only used Minato's talents for his own use as he thought Haku was long gone when that happened; most likely he wasn't a part of it.

"Minato killed someone? Really? I never knew he could do such a thing… What did his boss do to make him so mad?" Asks Ino curiously.

"The guy used my dad for his own use. When he received what he wanted he tossed my dad aside like he was nothing. It wasn't good since we hardly had any money saved up because of the low pay Gatou paid after he promised how much my dad was supposed to be making. Good riddance to that bastard," the scowl grows as he's holding onto the snake rather harshly, but the female blond doesn't seem to mind since she can feel the anguish the human's feeling.

"Wow, good thing Minato killed him then. I read about this thing you humans call money in one of the many books that has washed up on our beaches. It was one that hadn't been destroyed by the water. That stuff seems to make a person do horrible things like it controls them. It's sad really," Ino begins to slither down a tree, moving onto the ground as she glides across the ground a lot faster towards their destination. "But power is what makes people crazy here more so than it does with humans. It's what I think based off what I've read from your human's history and my people's history."

The human only hums in response, apprehension welling up in his stomach. It creates large butterflies to fly around haphazardly in his belly, being terrified of meeting the snake people's king. After the stories he has heard from his father doesn't help. He knows that they are close as well because the trees begin to get larger. They are also more polished, furnished and just about a mile up ahead can be seen the so called palace. It's set in the largest tree. When they reach it a couple of guards are sitting in front of the floor entrance. Their tales are a few different kind of colors that Naruto recognizes, but can't exactly remember the name of the snakes.

The guards give the blond man a hard glare, but know that the human is to be brought forth to the king to see what fait has in store for him. A servant is given a summons to assist. The small male snake leads them up several tunnels and floors until they reach the main floor. Inside the tree it really does look like a palace. It's only made out of wood, but it's hard to tell since the wood is sanded down and polished. This makes the wood shine. Several torches hang from the ceilings to light the hallways and rooms, giving the place an eerie yet homey atmosphere.

"His lordship is right through this door," the manservant says as he begins to open the door, holding it open for Ino and Naruto; once they are through the manservant leaves as the door swings closed again.

The throne room is far bigger than the one before. A long rug made out of silky fur runs along the floor in front of them. It stops just underneath a large male black snake. Naruto gulps as red eyes similar to Itachi's glare down at him. He has long black hair that frames his face. In many ways this naga looks so much like Itachi, having the same eyes, hair, skin, and fangs. The snake beside the dark haired creature is male as well. He has red spiky hair, pale skin, a thin body, and light lilac eyes. This one looks much nicer; especially since it appears he doesn't have any fangs.

"Is this the human you hav been talking about, Gaara?" the black snake asks the coral snake that stands a few feet in front of him though when Gaara nods has the red eyed creature motioning the two forward.

Ino gently sets Naruto down onto the ground, pushing him forward towards the black snake. She places one of her hands gently on the small of his back. Once in front of the black snake most likely their lord with Gaara and Ino on either side of him the king runs his eyes over the human's body, having an eyebrow quirking up at the white sheet around the blond man's waist. After checking the human over the black haired man motions for the female snake and coral snake to leave. The two do so after a few moments of hesitation, giving Naruto a few backward glances before closing the door behind them. With the two snakes gone Naruto feels rather uncomfortable, trying not to let himself shake visibly in front of the king and his mate. Both the blond and redhead are looking at the black snake, waiting for him to say something.

"I am Lord Madara and this is my mate, Nagato. Who are you?" the king finally asks, a look of remembrance in his eyes as he continues to gaze down at the human.

"N-Naruto," the blond replies, mentally cursing at his stutter.

"You look oddly like a man who has been here before… Do you know him? His name is Minato," hisses Madara.

Naruto's eyes widen at this, looking away as fear wells up inside him. He can't help thinking about the possibilities of what Madara can do to him. It seems that Gaara hasn't told the king yet, leaving it upon the blond to do it himself. He doesn't really like this, having no idea how Madara and Negato might react to it.

"Yes, actually he was my… father," he wishes that he says something else once it has left his mouth.

Red eyes widen in shock before turning into twin glares while Nagato gasps. His eyes are wide as well. Madara suddenly leaves his spot beside his mate, gliding across the floor towards the blond. Naruto backs away from the malice that drips off the snake's form. Madara only follows him until Naruto trips over his own foot, ending up falling onto his ass. The black creature is leaning over him with hostility that glows in his eyes.

"So, you're the thing that was born from those two," he curls around the blond loosely, surrounding Naruto with his tail to make sure he won't be able to escape if he chooses to flee, smirking at the terrified human. "Hn, you don't look like much. I didn't have anything to be afraid of. You're nothing in comparison to what I had in mind. You're weak. I can smell it. I should kill you right here and now."

Madara hisses, opening his mouth wide to expose his dripping fangs. Naruto freezes, trembling in fear while he tries to remain strong in front of such a formidable creature. Before Madara can do anything Nagato crawls hurriedly over to his mate, wrapping his arms around his lover to stop him, holding the king back. It's evident enough that he doesn't want Naruto to receive any sort of harm.

"Wait, don't kill him! He hasn't done anything! What Minato and Kushina did were their mistakes. They aren't his!" Nagato tells him sternly.

Madara pushes the redhead off of him, glaring at his mate for stopping him, "Why don't I kill him when he's a born mistake?"

Nagato winces at his mate's words, frowning unhappily while Madara turns back to the blond although the redhead whispers under his breath, "You're wrong."

"Tell me, boy. Where is Minato and Kushina?" Demands Madara to know.

Naruto is too afraid, unable to say anything in response. He knows that he needs to, not wanting to provoke the king. What else he knows is that he'll most likely be dead any moment if Nagato hasn't stopped him. He isn't entirely sure why Nagato has done that, recalling from his father's stories about him. He thinks that Nagato can be an ally, but isn't certain about it. Trying to force some words out, he's having difficulty with the terror gripping him harshly.

"Answer me," snarls out the king.

The blond flinches away, closing his eyes as he turns away. Madara is about to hit the human when Nagato intervenes again. He unwraps his mate from the human's body, bringing the blond close to him while glaring angrily at the red eyed snake. He feels a little upset when he feels the blond shake in his arms. Unlike his mate, Nagato won't at all harm a human.

"Stop it, Madara. He's clearly is terrified. He's too scared to answer your question," Nagato hisses, surprising his mate as the redhead usually is gentle and submissive with him, agreeing or disagreeing gently to everything he said.

"As he needs to be.

"He doesn't know what powers I hold," Madara murmurs back, letting his mate have his way… for now, uncurling himself completely so he can sit a few feet away from them.

Nagato does his best to calm the human, rubbing his back soothingly while whispering to him that everything will be ok in the blond's ear. Naruto slowly comes out of his shock, beginning to relax. Nagato feels his breathing slowing down a little while his body stops shaking. Once the blond calms down enough Nagato knows that he'll be able to reply. The redhead sets the blond down back onto the floor. Unlike his mate, he's patient with others, hoping Madara will continue to allow him to do this his way although he knows that it probably won't last too long if his mate has his way.

"Can you tell me what has happened to Kushina and Minato?" Nagato asks, holding Naruto's gaze.

Naruto swallows several times, trying to find his voice again as he finally answers after several attempts, "T-They're… dead."

Nagato gasps quietly as his face drops in despair at the human's loss, "How and when did this happen?"

"My mom died five years ago by some disease. My dad died by getting run… …over by a carriage not long afterwards," the pain of losing his parents comes back like a slap to the face as Naruto tries his best to move on, being able to do so by staying out at sea for months and working hard so he doesn't have to remember.

Now, he has to tell these creatures what has happened. Somehow it makes him feel even worse. But he doesn't even cry at this moment although his eyesight does start becoming blurry from unshed tears. Nagato feels the blond's pain, hugging him tightly to feel teary eyed himself. From the corner of his eye he can see Madara smirk when he hears that Kushina is dead. It soon turns into an unsettled frown upon hearing Minato's death.

"You poor child," Nagato whispers softly. "I feel your pain. Minato and Kushina were great friends of mine. I loved them very dearly; especially Minato. I'm still angry at Madara for what he tried to do all those years ago."

He glares at his mate with his red puffy eyes and flushed cheeks. The larger snake only rolls his eyes to slither back to his spot where he is before. He sits down on his coiled up self with an unhappy frown. Holding a distant look in his eyes, he stops glaring when he sees how much the death of the human's father is eating him up inside. He feels a strong urge to move over to be there for him, but they have to decide what they are going to do with Naruto.

"Madara," Nagato calls softly, gathering his mate's attention. "What are we going to do with him? We surely can't kick him out of the village. The rogue snakes or snakes from other villages will eat him for sure."

"Well, I certainly don't want him here! Looking at his face that's similar to his father brings back so many memories. I thought I have forgotten them," the black snake glares at his mate, but it holds no bite to it as it quickly softens at the look Nagato is giving him which is one that holds love and admiration.

"Please, don't kick him out. I highly doubt he'll be a nuisance," he says as an idea suddenly springs up, giving a small smile that contains a hint of worry to his mate. "haven't you said once that your nephew has been bothering you and others because he's become sexually frustrated?"

Madara gives the other an odd look, crossing his arms over his chest, "Sasuke? Yeah, I have. I highly doubt this human might want to have sex with my nephew anymore than Sasuke will like to mate with him. Sasuke is picky."

"I know Sasuke is picky. He's stubborn too, but we can make this one into Sasuke's concubine. Sasuke has said to never bring another female or another snake for that matter. Look, he's not a snake nor female. From what I'm smelling this one has been with several other male humans," what Nagato doesn't know is that the many smells of other males is not because Naruto has had sex with them, but because the blond has been around them for so long. "One in particular smells stronger than the others."

Naruto feels a little confused, watching the two snakes converse with each other in that native tongue. It sounds rather beautiful to his ears, wondering what is going to happen to him. When Nagato holds this devilish look on his face unnerves Naruto, not wanting to know what they are talking about. He doubts that it is caused by anything good. For all the blonde knows is that his fate will lead him towards his demise. Madara thinks over what his mate has said. It does sound like a good idea. The human certainly is a looker, giving him that except he doesn't want to think about what will happen to the blond if his nephew doesn't want the human. Deciding to take the chance of getting rid of the mortal from his sight, he finally agrees to his mate's suggestion.

"Fine, but you owe me," hisses Madara.

"Of course. I'll be back tonight. Get everything ready for me while I escort Naruto to Sasuke's room," Nagato gives a small hiss of excitement before he begins to leave the room with Naruto still in his arms, missing the suggestive look Madara is giving his scaly behind, but he can at least feel it.

After traveling down many tunnel shaped hallways and passing by many rooms, Nagato finally stops in front of two large doors. He puts Naruto back down onto his feet, knocking a couple of times. When no one answers he tries again. This time he receives an answering hiss.

"If that's you Madara bringing me another female fuck off!" Is the angry answer, making the blond grimace from the rage even though he doesn't understand what the person on the other side of the door is saying.

"It's me, Nagato. I haven't brought any females with me," the red snake answers calmly, smiling gently when the door opens to reveal another clone of Itachi although this one looks younger, about the a year or two older than Naruto, who has shorter hair that reminds Naruto of a duck's butt though he still has those red eyes similar to Itachi's and Madara's.

The dark haired snake gazes at Nagato questioningly before his gaze falls upon Naruto. His eyes widening a little at what he is seeing here. The black acrid man looks so taken aback at seeing the blonde, not even uttering a single word. He can only open and close his mouth as he searches for something to say. What he does manage to do is slide aside for them to come in though doesn't take his eyes off the human. Naruto is now standing in his room. All the while Nagato has a strange smirk on his face while he keeps close to him.

"Sasuke, this is Naruto. He'll be your concubine for the time being since we can't figure out what else to do with him," the redhead explains, snapping the black snake out of his shock. "Be nice. He's been through some traumatic events. He's confused of what's happening."

The black snake who's almost as large as Madara yet bigger than Nagato doesn't answer, raising an eyebrow towards the redhead's way in a questioning manner. He nods, motioning for his uncle's mate to get out of here before looking towards the blond again. Holding an unreadable expression, he eyes the sheet wrapped around Naruto's waste oddly. Nagato left silently after giving the blond one last comforting look along with one last warning look towards Sasuke. Naruto glances around the room while he stands there with his hands clasped behind him, wondering why he's here.

"So," the blond begins, gathering Sasuke's full attention that seems to be rather engrossed in Naruto's legs. "Do you have any idea why I'm here with you? What are you doing?"

Letting out a squeak of surprise when the large snake draws close to his legs, Sasuke touches them with curiosity. When Naruto moves his legs away, Sasuke glances up before standing up straight again. He holds a look of embarrassment, having not meant to do that except the scents wafting off of Naruto interest him. He doesn't know why these feelings overcome him suddenly without warning. Chalking it up to it being something about Naruto, he just can't place his finger on it.

"Nagato said you are to be my concubine, but I'm not interested in mating with anyone. This also applies towards something I don't know might have a disease, the black snake turns away from him, slithering away towards an opening that's in the shape of a door as he begins to go out.

The blond flushes in anger, following the snake out as he steps out into a balcony that's similar to the ones back home, moving to stand in front of him without any fear, "Now look here, I don't want to have sex with you either because I'm not interested with having sex with anyone except for one person."

Sasuke tilts his head to the side a little as he asks, "Who is it?"

Naruto looks back up, remembering why he's out here in the first place, "Uh, no one! As I was saying before I don't want to have sex with you either! Besides we both agree on the same thing. I'll be going now."

The blond tries to pass Sasuke, but the snake slides in his way as he does this each time whenever the human attempts to pass him, "Get out of my way."

"Listen," Sasuke begins while rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly. "The only reason why you're here is because my uncle and his mate don't know what else to do with you. So, they decided to make you my concubine. It's a reason for you to stay with me. Nagato probably complained that I was annoying every one because I'm sexually frustrated. If they want to help they need to bring something I'll actually like instead of some female snake that's a total idiot."

"You're not into women either?" Asks Naruto after following the snake back inside, catching the last phrase the other male said.

"We don't call them women here, but yes. I find them rather annoying and clingy," Sasuke shivers a disgusted look crossing his features at a sudden memory. "Now, since I do love Nagato I will do as he asks of me. I'll look after you even though he didn't really say that. I know that's what he really means."

"Um, ok," Naruto mutters, uncertain if he can even trust Sasuke.

"I want to ask you to stay close by me since there has been talk about rogue snakes getting too close to our village's border. There are other snakes here that won't even hesitate to eat you given the chance."

**_Oks, that's the end of the chappie. I hope you all enjoyed. The next one will be out shortly whenever I finish revising it. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_**


	6. Ember

**_Hey y'all! It's Spirit, or formerly known as Aurora, here with the next chappie of Serpent's Temptress. I hope you all are finding it an enjoyable read so far. Hopefully I'm doing well with revising things and all. _**

**_Anyway, enough of me chattering on. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice comments. _**

**Chapter 5: Ember **

Gulping at the thought of being eaten, Naruto decides to follow Sasuke back out onto the balcony, "Well, I certainly don't want to be eaten. All of this is just too much to take in. I can't believe all those stories my dad used to tell me are actually true. Now, I know why mom was upset every time I ask them to tell me about this place…"

"Who exactly are your parents?" Sasuke asks, curious about the blonde's precise origins.

"Minato and Kushina," is Naruto's quick reply, waiting for the other male to become angry and inflict some sort of pain, but what he receives instead is a wide eyed look full of shock which lasts for a moment before Sasuke grabs the blond's shoulders as he's giving him a stern look. "What? Did you know them too?"

"Of course I did!" Sasuke hisses with a glare, stopping his pacing. "Minato was best friends with my father. He was there for my birth before he left several years later. That's when I knew that you were the cause of their troubles."

"Trust me, you're not the only one who thinks that," Naruto snaps, turning his back to the raven haired male as he almost falls down a slide-like thing which supposedly is the naga's stairs, causing him to decide to go down it so he can get away from him.

He doesn't at all expect for Sasuke to follow after him with a strange look on his face, "What do you want?"

"You're the first creature who has ever talked back to me without fear," Sasuke replies a little harshly, making Naruto stop to spin around.

"Well, excuse me-" Naruto is cut off, seeing Sasuke give him a small smile.

"I like it," is what he admits to Naruto.

It causes Naruto to do a double take, seeing the most outrageous look on his face that Sasuke has ever seen. He thinks that it looks quite adorable on the blond, seeing him in a new light. The human's face turns from shock to confusion then to horror at the husky look in the red eyes that are staring right down at the blond's body. Naruto tries to back away from the snake, ending up tripping on the end of Sasuke's tail again to fall against another piece of Sasuke's snake half to come to the realization that the black creature has curled around him. It's just enough to effectively trap him.

"Ok, I see that you are suddenly infatuated with me, but I'm not the type that sleeps with strangers. So, I'm going to go now," Naruto tries to climb over the black scaly wall, but Sasuke lifts the part where Naruto is climbing lightly, making the blond fall back into the circle.

"Listen, I know you said that you have to take care of me, but seriously, I can take care of myself just fine," huffs out the mortal.

The black snake's face suddenly becomes surious, giving a small snort, "I love to see you struggle on your own here for one day before I swoop in or rather slither in to save you from eating something poisonous. It's either that or I'd stop you from being eaten."

Naruto glares daggers at him, "I'm not helpless."

Sasuke rolls his eyes before shaking his head, "You don't know this place well enough to know about the dangers that lie here. You're small. You are an easy target for hungry predators such as myself."

The blond huffs from where he still sits, turning away from the black haired snake, crossing his arms over his chest while he thinks of what to do next, "Why does life hate me? First we were attacked by pirates. Then I was almost raped by one, but luckily some crazed whale attacked our ship. I was saved only to be dumped into the ocean. I was washed up onto this island full of these creatures. Not only that, but I was separated by my friends. I wonder what they're up to."

Unknowingly to him Naruto's voice has gotten louder with each sentence. It allows the black snake to hear what has happened to him in the past few days. Sasuke does feel pissed when he hears that this interesting and delightful blond was almost raped by pirates. He almost laughs at the whale part, might of doing so if he wasn't hung up on the rape part. He decides not to ask about it.

"I don't think it was a crazed whale, as you said it was, that attacked your ship, whatever that is," Sasuke pipes up, interrupting Naruto's rant.

A blond brow lifts as Naruto looks back over his shoulder, glancing at Sasuke in confusion, "What do you mean it wasn't a whale? I'm pretty sure it was by the looks of it."

"Ok, then what did it look like?" Sasuke waits with his arms crossing over his own chest, holding a look of amusement on his face while he watches the blond trying to come up with an answer.

"Um, ok it was too dark to see, but I'm sure it was a whale," Naruto pouts.

The snake chuckles while shaking his head slowly. Sasuke has never met anyone who makes him act this way in such a long time. Oddly enough, he likes it. It feels refreshing to him. The blond is indeed adorable for him to actually talk back instead of cowering in fear like all the others do towards him. He definitely prefers having someone that will talk to him. It just makes things easier and a lot more fun than it has been until now.

"You're cute, but I'm positive it wasn't a whale," says Sasuke, trying to hide the small smile that's creeping onto his lips.

"Ok, oh so high and mighty snake, what do you think it was?" Naruto huffs, still pouting at him.

"I know it had to be Leviathan," he answers simply as if it is common sense.

Naruto blinks once or twice before he bursts out laughing although he stops when he sees Sasuke is clearly being serious, "You can't be really serious about this. There's no such thing as Leviathan. I'm not cute!"

"You thought the same thing about us. Well, here I am," answers Sasuke with a smirk, finding the blond's facial expressions highly amusing. "No, you're not cute… you're adorable. You're pleasing to the eye."

The leathery coils around the blond tighten the circle around him. It's just a little more as the black haired creature presses in closer to take in Naruto's scent, doing this by flicking his snake like tongue out. This makes Naruto gulp, forgetting all about their conversation about Leviathan because he's too uneasy with the naga to think about anything else. He hopes that he'll be able to handle him.

"Great," groans Naruto, trying his best to curl away from the snake.

()()()()()

Kiba groans while his head pounds against his skull. It feels almost like he's going to puke any second now. Slowly, he sits up while blinking his eyes open. That way they can become used to the bright fire that's burning a couple feet in front of him. He thinks that Kakashi or Neji might have done it while he has been asleep. Standing up onto his feet, he finds it to only cause him to bump his head against the ceiling of the cave. The brunette curses, scooting back down while rubbing his sore head, wishing that he has something to dull the pain. His prayers are shortly given an answer when a hand holding a cup made out of what looks like to be a small mellon with some kind of dark liquid in it to him. Kiba is more than pleased to be given it, hoping that it'll cure his ailments.

A deep voice says, "Drink."

Kiba takes it without question, drinking it all in one go. He does this before the taste finally hits his tongue, making his lips curl before he gags. His headache is slowly ebbing away. Sighing in relief, but still cringing at the taste Kiba turns his attention over to thank Kakashi or Neji for the drink. However, his words remain stuck in his throat at the creature that's balancing on his coils in a sitting position before him with a worrisome expression.

"Are you alright? You have had me worried when I found you three passed out on the ground after eating all those balelas," the creature says as he smiles a little at seeing that the brunette is alright. "They may seem good to eat, but their toxins can make even the strongest snake fall asleep. One will wake up with a killer headache. I'm Itachi by the way."

Kiba is frozen from where he sits with a wide eyed expression, jaw being slack open. He has no words to say in response, wishing that he had. Having never seen such a creature has him recalling what Naruto has told him about them. The black haired snake waits patiently for an answer, but all he receives is the human falling backwards in a dead faint.

"Oh dear, I didn't expect that to happen. The blond one didn't act like this when I met him, but he couldn't see my whole body," Itachi shrugs before making sure there's enough wood on the fire to make a few more cups of his brew for the other two whenever they wake up. This is going to be a long day.

A dark eyebrow lifts at the three pairs of eyes that are staring at him in amazement, shock, and fear. Itachi is starting to feel annoyance creep in at the reactions he's receiving from them. The three humans have finally woken up not too long ago. The two who haven't woken up before with the large brunette drink the same substance Kiba has drank before. Receiving the same results, he knows their headaches are slowly dissipating. Once their headaches vanish despite their dislike for the taste of the drink, they finally notice the naga. They freeze in their tracks as Kiba isn't this time.

"Will you stop staring at me like that?" Snaps itachi, crossing his arms over his chest, trying to look intimidating though the flush to his cheeks is making him look harmless, causing their eyes to roam his body.

Kakashi is the first to snap out of his shock, realizing that this snake creature appears to be of no threat to them. Still, he feels a little wary about the male. Deciding to eye the snake for a moment before he relaxes, it lessens the tense air a little. At seeing their captain relax helps the other two to relax as well. They have their full and utter trust in their elder to ensure all is well, but keep a close eye on Itachi. Neji is especially watchful of the stranger, having a bad feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.

"So," Kiba starts when no one seems to want to speak as he takes it upon himself to fill the silence. "Since we're friends here why don't we all give each other our names?"

"I'm Kiba," says the brunette as he eyes Neji that's refusing to say anything, but the intense look Kiba is giving him makes him spill.

"Neji," huffs the Hyuga.

"Kakashi," says the captain to the him.

All three humans are now gazing at the snake as they are expectantly waiting for the strange male to speak up as the creature appears to be a little bashful, but he does at last give his name under a quiet whisper, "Itachi."

"Ok, Itachi, can you tell us where we are?" Asks Kiba, shifting into a more comfortable position as he lies back against the cave's wall with his legs spread out before him and his hands are clasped behind his head.

"You're at Floral Island," replies Itachi calmly.

Kakashi takes the name in, thinking it over in his head. He never has heard of such an island called that before. He wonders where it's located, knowing that he along with his crew members have washed up here. He hasn't seen an island with that name on any of the maps. Perhaps it's a deserted or private island. Maybe so…. He thinks that it can be the case, but he isn't entirely sure about it.

"I've never heard the name of an island like that before," he states when his two comrades give him hopeful looks. "I've never seen this part of the sky before either. Wherever we are it's far away from any other human inhabited land. Is this place full of your kind?"

The black haired naga nods, "Yes, but we're not even close to any of the villages. So, this place is highly dangerous because of rogue snakes and large animals."

"Why aren't we in a village then if it's so dangerous out here?" Asks Kiba, not liking how Itachi's gaze hardens a little while he looks away with a frown.

"Because…... I was banished for something I didn't do. I was framed for the murder of my clan except for my uncle, cousin, and little brother who are still alive. They're in the main village," grumbles Itachi.

Eyes widen at this as the tension is fully back in force. They don't know whither to believe this creature or start running away. So far the stranger hasn't done anything to the humans to make them feel up in arms. Kakashi, being the rational man that he is, decides to believe the creature, forcing himself to calm down again. He makes the two others calm a bit too. The bad feeling in Neji's gut doesn't leave.

Itachi nods his head in thanks they seem to believe him, deciding to change the subject, "Are you guys hungry? I've brought a couple of hares back with me since they're easy to catch. I also have some zalphore."

Walking towards the back of the cave, he drags out a net full of rabbits with black or brown fur in one hand. It seems like a couple to the naga, but it more likely seems like two dozen to the humans. In his other hand he's clutching one of the legs of a reptile-like creature with whiskers on it's face and a whip tale. The skin is rather smooth in texture. It has a dark red color with white spots on its back as the body itself is rather small. It has enough meat on its bones to feed the three humans. Neji wrinkles his nose at the strange looking creature with a small head, saying that he'll rather have a rabbit. Itachi reaches into the net, tossing one of the carcasses onto the brunette's lap that almost make the long haired human squeal. Neji picks up the dead rabbit, handing it over to Kiba for him to skin it for him. Due to having almost thrown up at the feeling of broken bones beneath his fingers, Neji feels glad that his comrade will do the deed for him. Kiba gets out his knife that's strapped to his belt while Itachi grabs a rabbit for himself. Opening his mouth wide, he sticks his tongue out a little before he swallows it whole. The three humans watch the small lump slowly make its way down the snake's throat to disappear into his stomach.

"For some reason I'm not so hungry anymore," says Neji with a grimace as he tells Kiba he can keep the rabbit for himself.

"That was awesome!" Kiba exclaims, eyes wide in wonder.

The rabbit is forgotten for now. Itachi takes another one as he does the same from before as the brunette watches the whole time because he has seen regular snakes eat, but this is truly amazing; by the fifth rabbit Neji is starting to look a little green. "You know, for a sailor you sure do have a squeamish stomach."

"Shut up," glares Neji.

Kakashi decides to be bold, cutting a chunk of meat from the beast's breast. He grabs a stick to poke the meat on it, using it to suspend it over the fire. He'll cook it that way. The meat in the creature looks white, juicy, and the smell coming from the cooked meat is delicious. Itachi tears a chunk off for himself, swallowing it whole as blood is dripping from his fingers and mouth. By then Neji can't hold it in anymore, running off towards the entrance to throw up what little food he had in his stomach. Kiba laughs, finishing up skinning his meal. He forces a stick threw its body so he too can suspend it over the fire.

"It's kind of interesting to see rabbits in a jungle," says Kiba while he and Kakashi are cooking their food.

"There never used to be," Itachi states. "An abandoned ship with crates full of rabbits washed up on our island a while ago. Now, they became a favorite meal among the children since they're more like junk food than anything else."

"Cool," Kiba twists his stick to make sure his meal is cooking evenly, licking his lips in hunger as the smell of Kakashi's meal doesn't help.

Hesitantly, the white haired man takes a small bite of his cooked meat. He almost moans at the heavenly taste. Taking another, larger bite, he downs his piece hurriedly before he's cooking some more. Neji is back by that time, holding his stomach while looking a little pale. He takes one look at the roasted rabbit before he immediately is going back outside to hurl. Itachi feels a little concerned for his guest, reaching inside the red creature's body to pull out some blue looking gland before cleaning off the blood with his tongue. Leaving the cave to head out towards the entrance where Neji is dry heaving, he approaches him.

"He's not going to make him eat it, is he?" Kiba asks his captain in a whisper while he strips meat off his meal before they hear a loud yell of 'no way!' Resounding off the cave's walls that tells them everything before there's some struggling as well as gagging.

Itachi is the first to appear with a large grin on his face. He seems rather pleased with himself. Neji is following behind him with a little bit of blood running down his chin. Kakashi and Kiba look over at each other before looking back at the brunette. The regal Hyuga is sitting back down next to Kiba, asking for a few strips of rabbit meat. The large brunette tears a few strips from the rabbit's breast, handing it over to Neji that eats it delicately.

"After you're done eating you three need to rest," says Itachi, eating the rest of the red beast before throwing the waste into the fire, causing a delicious aroma to fill the cave, cleaning the blood off the ground with his tongue, using the dirt and small rocks to clean his teeth before spitting it back out.

The three nod in agreement, finishing up their meals. They accept the bedding of grass and fur that Itachi has made for them. Neji is out in minutes due to how the gland Itachi had given him settles his stomach. It seems to be working like a sedative to help him fall asleep faster. It takes a little while longer for the two older men to fall asleep, but one look at the way the black snake is sleeping calms them. It assists them to be able to fall unconscious not too long after.

The rustling of dirt wakes up Kakashi from his light sleep. Opening his eyes in time to see Itachi making his way out of the cave, he makes his way to follow him. He waits for the other male to disappear around the corner before following him, staying far enough behind to not be heard or seen. The white haired captain follows until the black snake finally stops. Staying hidden behind a few bushes and some trees, he's easily hidden by the shadows since it's night although he still has to keep quiet since he's now close enough to be heard. Itachi looks rather nervous, wringing his hands together as if he's anxiously waiting for someone in the small clearing. Indeed he is. Near the edge on one side of the clearing, a large snake with a dark tail and a muscular human torso slithers on into the clearing towards Itachi. This creature has short wild hair, but the color is hard to see even though the half filled moon gives off enough moonlight to see a little better. Kakashi watches the two hug each other lovingly, smirking at the thought of Itachi coming out for a late night snogging. When the two let go and don't kiss confuses Kakashi, thinking that he might be wrong about the two hitting it off. Stopping his thoughts so he can hear what they are saying, he finds out shortly enough it's a worthless attempt since he can't understand what they are saying.

"have you found any leads?" Asks Itachi, looking at the older snake expectantly as he lets out a small sigh of relief when the other gives a nod. "Who is it?"

"I have found some old records in Mizuki's desk the other day. They aren't supposed to be there as they are about the day the clan was taken out," the larger snake replies in a deep voice that can make anyone go wild in the bedroom. "He left before I could find and interrogate him. He must've known or seen me snooping around and fled; that immediately made him a rogue so watch out."

Itachi nods, leaning against the snake, "Pein….I've missed you. I hate I can only see you once a week."

"I missed you too. If my father finds out about what I've been doing he'll surely have my head."

**_Oks, that's the end of the chappie. I hope you all enjoyed. The next one will be out shortly whenever I'm done revising it. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_**


	7. Spiral

**_Hey y'all! Welcome back for the next chappie of Serpent's Temptress. Well, it's working out well breaking chappies up so each is between three to five thousand words each. It's so I don't get overwhelmed by anything. _**

**_Anyway, enough of me chattering on. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice comments. _**

**Chapter 6: Spiral **

"I don't care what he thinks," Itachi latches his lips back to Pein's when his mate kissed him, letting himself be dominated by the larger creature, moaning at the hands that are exploring his body with one hand straying down to the front where Itachi's cock should be as he slips in a couple of fingers in the slit there, making the long haired snake snap his head back to moan loudly.

Kakashi's eyes pop wide open when he sees a tentacle like shaft come out from the slit before noticing the larger snake's length is already out as it's much larger than Itachi's. For some reason the white haired man is becoming rather aroused, continuing to watch Pein's hand wrapping around Itachi's dick, beginning to rub it lazily while the other cups the back of the smaller creature's head while kissing him. When Pein pulls back to leave a wet trail of saliva down on the other's neck, Itachi opens his mouth to say something. It's too difficult with Pein's mouth doing those wonderful things to his neck. Finally, he pulls the larger snake's head away.

He gently whispers, "I'm ready."

Pein's hands stop what they have been doing, giving his lover a quizzical stare, "Are you sure? Because once we do this there's no turning back."

"I want you inside me. I want you to be my first," replies Itachi firmly, giving a small smile to reassure his lover it's alright to continue.

The large snake nods, allowing his thick saliva to drip off his tongue and onto his fingers before reaching behind his lover. Fingering another slit where a human's opening would be, he pushes a finger in slowly. Itachi doesn't look like he's in any pain at all. What emerges in his voice and gaze is pure lust while he moans and pants passionately against Pein's neck. Whining for him to hurry up, Pein is going as fast as he can without hurting his lover before he deems the other prepared enough for his size. Kakashi watches as the large snake lies them down on their sides. Saddling up behind the black snake, he wraps an arm around him while one hand wraps around the base of his cock to steady himself before he pushes into the slit in Itachi's smooth, scaly behind, drawing out a throaty groan. The captain is entirely fascinated at the scene, unable to tear his eyes off the two writhing snakes. Watching Pein take Itachi's virginity, he hasn't known that at the time although he can tell by the slight smell of blood. Kakashi left before he can get anymore excited than he already is, needing to return before either of his men wake up or the snakes' mating is done. When he arrives back at the cave, he lies back down beside Neji. Being in between the two older men, he shuts his eyes to unknowingly be falling back asleep as soon as he does, He probably needs the rest. There obviously is no telling what will happen tomorrow.

The three men are woken up by the black snake shaking them. Itachi tells them to urgently follow him. It's the crack of dawn when the men follow the creature outside of the cave, walking behind Itachi while he leads them to the same clearing where Itachi and Pein had their secret meeting last night. Kakashi can't help himself except to smirk, his thoughts trailing off though also tries to think up an excuse about why he saw them last night. That way he can at least tease him about it.

"So, did you have a lot of fun last night?" the captain asks the snake that looks back questioningly, but he feels heat rush up to his cheeks at Kakashi's suggestive wiggling eyebrows.

"You saw that?" Itachi asks in exasperation, raising a brow at him.

"Yup, I had to take a leak. Then I suddenly saw you wandering off somewhere as curiosity got the better of me so I followed," Kakashi's walking beside the male, elbowing him in the side. "Quite the handsome snake you got there."

Itachi's blush deepens to a darker shade of crimson as Kakashi asks, "Do we get to meet him?"

"Yes," replies Itachi solemnly. "He's taking you guys back to the main village where it is safe…...I hope."

"Well, that's reassuring," remarks Neji sarcastically. "Wait, isn't he a rouge like you?"

"No, he's from the main village. He comes out once a week to meet me… We were best friends and then lovers before all this stuff about me killing the clan came up," answers the Uchiha, feeling a little sad that he's losing his new friends. "Pein will make sure you three remain safe. I'm sure Nagato, the king's mate, will as well."

The four of them wait in the clearing for a few moments until Pein slithers out with a net full of rabbits for the trip. His spiky hair is a rusty orange with his eyes a light lilac color. His skin is lightly tan on his human half while his scales are a dark burgundy brown on his back and light brown to white on his belly. He has three piercings on the bridge of his nose. Neji grimaces at the sight. Raw power moves beneath the skin of the reptile. The three men feel a bit nervous around this giant snake.

"This is Pein. He will be the one looking out for you," says Itachi, standing close to his lover with a small smile. "Pein, this is Kakashi, Kiba, and Neji. Keep them safe."

The large brown snake nods, reciting a kiss by the small reptile lightly before Itachi slithers away back into the jungle hurriedly. He has his head down. Pein's eyes follow his lover in concern, but he knows that he'll be fine. What he also knows is that he'll of course see him again next week. When Itachi disappears from sight the brown snake turns around, going back the way he has come from. Clearly he's not waiting for the others, not giving a single backwards glance to make sure they are following him. The three men run after him, having probably a safer time with him than on their own through this unknown place.

()()()()()

The interminable silence is getting rather old. The other in front of him is feeling the same way by the way the tip of his tail twitches back and forth in irritation. Naruto rolls his eyes, considering that Sasuke isn't hanging on him or cornering him anymore since the blond has smacked him harshly yesterday. Now, it's a new day, feeling a little awkward. It needs to be he supposes after the hit Sasuke has taken from Naruto. The human has thought that the reptile might go ballistic on him, but the black snake seems to admire the blond even more for sticking up for himself. Sasuke knows when he's pushing his luck to be near the human, figuring that it'll be a matter of time before Naruto will grow close to him. Sasuke decides that he'll remain patient until he's given permission to be closer to the blonde. They have woken up not too long ago, having already eaten though there's nothing else for Naruto to do unless he wants Sasuke to follow him around all day like a babysitter. That thought alone makes him want to gag. The thought of a nice hot bath sounds rather nice at the moment, starting to sort of smell at this point. He notices the snake can smell it too from where he sits by the way his tongue only flings out in small flicks instead of those large flicks he usually does. If the creature can smell with his tongue then why does he need a nose?

"Hey, Sasuke?" Naruto begins to ask as Sasuke's head snaps towards him with keen interest shown on his face. "Is there any way I can take a nice hot bath?"

"Of course. We have a couple of hot springs near the palace," replies Sasuke, smirking at the delightful grin Naruto gives him. "Follow me and I'll show it to you."

Sasuke leads him towards the doors, allowing Naruto to step through before he closes them behind them. Taking the lead after that, they notice a few of the servants watch in amusement as Madara's nephew is acting more like a servant or guardian for the human rather than acting like the prince that he is. A couple are even brave enough to comment about it, but they soon regret it when Sasuke hisses angrily at them. Glaring, he makes the unlucky servants slither away in fear. Naruto is confused since he doesn't at all know what they are saying, but by the way Sasuke stays close to him and the way the servants are staring at their prince in mock has the blond getting that it isn't something he wants to know.

"Ahhhh," groans Naruto, lowering himself into the hot spring after taking off his covering.

There are many around him in all different shapes and sizes. Those are being used by other snakes of the village. All of them have been rebuild with smooth stone to fit their comfort. The regular rough texture has been grounded down that even has a seat. It's an addition around the hot pool to make things a little easier to access.

The sound the blond makes arouses Sasuke to an extent, shivering at all the other sounds Naruto might make once the black haired male has manipulated him into his bed. He needs the human to trust him first before he can do anything, not wanting to make Naruto run away from him. Sasuke knows that it's definitely going to tire his patience, but he'll still keep his hands to himself for now. He knows it'll be worth it in the end. The thought of taking the blond without his consent makes him feel sick to his stomach.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Asks Sasuke quietly, sliding in, to take up most of the pool with his tail, unable to help to groan as the heat begins working at his stiff muscles.

"Very much so," replies Naruto with a sigh, lying his head back against the edge of the pool as he closes his eyes because this is something he desperately needs. "So, Sasuke, your Madara's nephew, eh? It must be tough with his quick temper."

"I suppose so," hums Sasuke in response, not really paying much mind to how his uncle acts since the tamper is a mutual aspect amongst most Uchiha's.

"I probably need to hurry and wash my body before getting out so I don't cook my internal organs," he looks around to see if he can find anything to wash himself until something wet and soft smacks against the side of his head before sliding off to hit the water with a small splash, looking down to see what it is.

He comes to find a piece of spongy moss floating around in the water, looking up at Sasuke with a questioning gaze. It seems that he's been given a blank look back in return. He guesses that this is what they use to wash up with. Naruto begins scrubbing his body, making sure to do his lower regions underwater and away from the snake's prying eyes. It's kind of embarrassing enough he has to wash in front of the stranger. He thinks that showing his privates to the snake might of been humiliating.

"So, what does your dick look like?" Asks Sasuke right out of the blue, causing Naruto to sputter as he jumps up from his squatting position to turn around to yell at the snake as red eyes immediately travel down the blond's body that make him smirk at what he sees. "Interesting."

Naruto falls back into the water with only the upper portion of his face showing when he realizes what he has done causes him to blush brightly as the lick of the other's lips has the blond blushing even more while he turns away from the snake to grab his covering though Sasuke has quickly snatches it away out of his reach, "Hey!"

"Uh, uh, there's no way you're going to wrap this dirty thing around that delicious body of yours again," murmurs Sasuke huskily into the blond's ear, giving it a small lick before he pulls away with a smirk.

What he doesn't expect is the blond to punch him in the gut. When Sasuke is winded, he grabs the covring. Naruto washes it the best he can, rinsing it out, and tying it back around his waste after he rises out of the warm pool. He doesn't like the way the wet hair sticks to his skin. Glaring daggers at Sasuke, he's starting to get out of the pool as well. He's dripping wet, waiting to see if the snake is at all going to get angry with him. Sasuke admires the blond for his boldness, but seems a little irritable at the punch. It doesn't appear that he appreciates the calls from the other snakes that have seen the scene.

"Shall we go back inside?" the snake offers after hissing at the others to shut up with a glare that promises slow and painful deaths.

"Nah, not yet. I want to check out that garden we passed by on the way over here," replies Naruto, motioning Sasuke to lead the way.

They follow the trail back towards the palace, taking a different rout towards the garden. The entrance of it is a tree that has no top to it. It just curves back down to the ground, having a covering of vines with bright blue flowers with three purple lines on each of it's seven petals. The bushes around the garden act like a fence with how they are about a few inches taller than Sasuke. They are full with bright red leaves and yellow flowers. Inside the garden is much more than Naruto can take in one setting, having to lean against the snake to steady himself as he catches his breath. Sasuke doesn't mind. The place is full with any color imaginable with all sorts of fruits, plants, birds, and insects. Naruto slowly struts in while Sasuke remains closely behind him. He sniffs each species of flower he can find, taking a liking to the dark rusty orange with yellow points. It has a short stem and several rows of petals. It's almost like a rose. Sasuke picks it for him, handing it over to him. He likes the smile he receives in returner the offering. The blond brings it up to his nose to smell again. It hides most of his bottom face while glancing up towards the snake with bright blue eyes.

"May I pick some more for the room?" Naruto asks as Sasuke gently pulls the flower away to set it on the blond's ear, causing him to blush a shade similar to scarlet. "It's rather plain."

"Pick as many as you want," replies Sasuke, expression softening visibly at the gorgeous smile he's given.

It seems like his patience is gaining him more points than his seducing. It's best to continue waiting until the blond wants it. Naruto scampers off, beginning to pluck his favorite flowers from around the garden. He has taken a stop a few times to taste the fruit. There are a few he doesn't particularly like, giving those to Sasuke to finish them for him. While Naruto picks flowers Sasuke picks a few as well from the orange flowers with the yellow tips along with several blue flowers with a violet center. It draws up the six petals a few centimeters and begin to make a crown with them. Once he finishes up, Naruto is as well. He places the crown on top of the blond's head, making the jinchurriki protest that a crown of flowers are for girls, but he left them on with a small flush to his cheeks. Sasuke chuckles, thinking Naruto looks quite adorable with it on him.

()()()()()

"How cute," Nagato chuckles, staring down from his balcony that gives a great view of the garden.

Madara is beside him, eying the spectacle below as he isn't entirely sure what to think of it, "I've never seen Sasuke so happy before...…since that incident happened."

Pale lilac eyes droop sadly as he's engulfed by his lovers arms, "I hope Sasuke will find what he needs in him."

"I'm a little skeptical about it," Madara murmurs. "His father was human, but his mother was a snake."

"Don't worry about it. Human males can't get pregnant," scowls Nagato.

"Well, he's not exactly human now is he? He's part reptile too, you know?" States Madara.

"True, but it'll be sweet to have him get pregnant. Don't you start that stupid idea of what might become of the pregnancy! I'm tired of your quick temper," Nagato pulls away from his lover, crossing his arms over his chest while he glares at Madara. "I'm still mad at you."

Madara rolls his eyes, but smiles loveingly at his mate with a hint of guilt, "I feel bad about what I have done in the past. My jealousy was in the way of what truly matters the most to me. I swear it won't happen again."

The black snake pulls his lover back into his arms, kissing his lips lightly, "You're all I want. I don't want anyone else."

Wooing his mate seems to be helping him win over Nagato's anger. The red snake narrows his eyes ever so slightly before he smiles. He has given in, knowing he can never stay angry for too long against his mate. Madara knows all too well what to say to ensure Nagato won't run away from him, not wanting to lose what's precious to him. His mate is far more important to him than anything else.

"Fine, you win this round, but tonight... I want something special," Nagato huffs.

"Mmm, like what?" Purrs out Madara.

"You'll have to wait and see until tonight, eh?" Nagato left before Madara can say anything with one last peck to his lips.

The older snake shakes his head with a smirk, looking back down to see Sasuke and Naruto have left the garden. His mind drifts, wondering what those two are up to. He hopes that Naruto will be the key for Sasuke, but he isn't entirely sure about it. He knows to trust his mate, but he's still questioning what Nagato has in store for later.

()()()()()

Naruto waits in the cool water, feeling rather refreshed. After the garden, not wanting to go back to the palace yet. Sasuke decides to bring him to this lake before leaving somewhere that the blond doesn't know. The small lake he's swimming in is clear and shallow, but deep in some areas where a few lazy whirl pools twirl. Naruto makes sure to keep away from them even though they aren't that strong. What else he spots are several schools of colorful fish. Trying to catch them several times, he pouts at how they're too small and fast for him. As he lies on his back Naruto slowly paddles his feet to keep him afloat, making sure to keep away from the whirlpools. Making the mistake of closing his eyes, he feels the gentle tug of the current although thinks nothing of it at first. He continues kicking his feet in lazy strokes yet the gentle tug becomes stronger. Before Naruto knows what is happening, he's suddenly taken into the swirling pool, finding out how strong the pool really is. He kicks his feet hurriedly and strongly, but it doesn't seem to help in the slightest. It's soon enough that he gets pulled underwater, being taken down towards the bottom. The air in his lungs is gradually leaving him rapidly, continuing to struggle with all his might. he's quickly losing strength. Bubbles rise around him, causing it to become harder to see. Accidentally, he inhales a mouthful of water. He chokes on it. Before long his strength is almost completely gone, beginning to fade as his body is going around and around with the current.

Naruto gives up, letting his body be taken by the current. What he doesn't expect is a pair of powerful arms to wrap around him, being taken away from the whirlpool. The unknown savior lifts him back to the surface where he coughs out the water in his throat, gulping in a deep breath. The person who has saved him is swimming them back to the sandy banks before laying him down on his back. What has rescued him is another naga, but he's much larger than Sasuke. He has a different colored tail. His torso is rather muscular that's almost beefy. He has light orange hair. It's almost to the point of being blonde. He has eyes that are almost the same color, but it's a little darker with strange black markings around his right eye. It travels down his neck to stop around his shoulder. His tail is white with yellow blotches, but it's not as long as Sasuke's. It's still bigger, having a gentle nature about him that makes Naruto feel safe.

"Are you alright? I saw you struggling. I had to come help you. You're lucky I was nearby to save you," he says as his voice is soft, deep, and soothing.

"I'm fine. I was just being stupid. I wasn't watching where I was swimming. Thanks for saving me," the blond replies with admiration in his voice, smiling widely at the other male.

"Of course. I can't have one of Prince Sasuke's concubines killed now, can we?" The large snake helps Naruto to his feet, beginning to leave the area though.

"What's your name? I'm Naruto," the blonde asks.

The snake pauses, glancing over his shoulder for a second to say before he left to disappear into the forest, "Juugo."

Naruto tilts his head with an odd grin, being about to jump back into the water before Sasuke suddenly slithers out from the jungle. He has a pile of clothes in his arms. The black creature seems to be looking at where Juugo has gone off to. He holds a questioning look, slithering on towards the blond. He hands over to him the clothing.

"Why was Juugo speaking to you? He's not all that social," asks Sasuke once he finishes handing over the clothes to Naruto while continuing to give him a questioning gaze.

Shrugging, he answers, "He saved me from drowning in a whirlpool. I was being stupid. I wasn't watching where I was going."

He smiles sheepishly, shifting nervously on his feet. The last thing he wants is Sasuke to be angry with him. He feels grateful at receiving clothes. Sasuke merely snorts, slightly amused and irritated. He doesn't like it that Naruto has almost drowned, but is relieved someone has come while he has been gone to save the blonde.

"I will have to thank him later. I hope those fit. I grabbed what I thought will fit you from the collection house," he explains for why he has them in the first place.

Slipping on the pants that are a little too tight, he can tell from these that he'll be able to survive. He also slips on the blouse that has a small v-neckline in the front. It shows off a little bit of his chest, having a suspicion that Sasuke got it on purpose. The leather deep brown boots are the only things that fit him. They come up to mid calf. Finally being able to wear actual clothes make Naruto sigh in relief once again. He thanks Sasuke for making the time to get them for him. Sasuke is definitely pleased with how it shows by the smirk on his face. It also shows by how he seems to straighten to make himself seem taller. Naruto rolls his eyes at the other's ego, deciding they need to head back to the palace to have lunch. He feels rather hungry from all the exercise he has done today. Sasuke agrees with the notion, leading Naruto back whence they have come.

**_Oks, that's the end of the chappie. I hope you all enjoyed. Hopefully it won't be too long of a wait until I finish revising the next one though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_**


	8. Howl

**_Hey y'all! It's Spirit here with the next chappie for Serpent's Temptress. I hope you all are doing well and still enjoying the story. Indeed, I am doing my best with revising things. Thank you all for your patience and support with this and the other works on my page. _**

**_Anyway, let's get on with the chappie. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice comments. _**

**Chapter 7: Howl **

Kiba's thankful for the break Pein gives them after hours of nonstop walking. Although it has been slithering in Pein's case. His clothes are clinging to him because of his sweat since it's so hot. Also, he's quite thirsty, feeling glad Kakashi is making water containers for them out of the hard shelled melons the snake has given them earlier. Kakashi has cut a small hole on top of each when Pein has told them the flesh inside them is nothing but liquid. Kiba gladly drains them of their nectar, leaving some for Neji that's carving knots to plug the holes with. When that's done, Kakashi fills them up with water from the river. He has dunked his head in a few times to cool himself off, taking a few gulps from the river. It seems to be clean, cool, and makes him feel refreshed. Slipping off his shirt, he lets it soak in the water before putting it back on. He groans in relief when the cold cloth hits his hot body. His two shipmates like his idea as they follow suit. They do the same thing. Kiba goes as far as to dump himself in the river to completely wet himself.

"If you're done cooling off you need to eat something light so we can get moving again. We're rather close to the main village," Pein states calmly, swallowing several large eggs he has found whole before regurgitating the shells back up.

Kiba isn't all that hungry, eating a few more of those melons while Kakashi and Neji break open an egg Pein saves for them. They share the yoke between each other, finding it disgusting even though it'll do for the time being since they don't have enough time to cook it. Luckily for them though they haven't come across any trouble yet.

"Do you think we'll see Naruto any time soon?" Kiba asks his mates, knowing well what each of them probably are thinking about, but they want to stay positive that their blond friend is alive.

Neji shrugs with a dark look coming over him, "I don't know, maybe... if he lived through that fall."

"We just have to think positive," Kakashi jumps in, hoping to bring the others' spirits up. "Knowing Naruto he's not one to kill easily."

He gives them all an encouraging smile even though it's a little forced as his thoughts have strayed somewhere else, being about if the blond was truly gone and never to be seen again, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll turn up and surprise us."

_It will be amusing to see the look on their faces once they see their blond human alive and well_, Pein thinks to himself as his mate has been kind enough to inform him about the blonde during their meeting the prior night. _Hopefully Nagato has been able to keep him safe. I'd hate to think what Madara might of done if his mate wasn't abel to calm him down… Anyways, I should ensure these three a safe passage the rest of the way to the main village. Let's hope we won't receive any complications when we arrive… _

_()()()()()_

"Yum," says Naruto through a mouthful of fruit that he has never seen or heard of before.

It's sweet that leaves a good aftertaste, but it's a little chewy unlike all the other fruits he has had so far. It's about dinner time. The two of them are dining out on the balcony to enjoy the last few rays of the sun, wanting to watch the sunset. Naruto feels as if he's growing to like the raven haired male, not knowing if he can be fully trusted even though he does think he does at least like him. Sasuke isn't a big fruit eater, mostly having had a few eggs, a rabbit, and a few slabs of raw meat from some kind of animal that's called a zalphore. It seems quiet except for the chirps and caws of the nocturnal animals, hearing a flap of wings from time to time. The silence between them is eventually broken by a knock, causing Sasuke to hiss silently in annoyance before he rises from his seat to answer it. Upon opening it there is a young female servant that stands there, looking a little nervous about being in the prince's presence.

"Yes?" Sasuke asks, urging the bright yellow snake to speak.

"Madara and Nagato need to see you and your concubine right now," she answers quietly, slithering back to her work when the black snake waves her away.

"My uncle and his mate need us at the moment," Sasuke grabs Naruto's hand, helping him up from the floor before dragging him to the king's throne room, wondering what he wants from him when he thinks that everything has been cleared up about the human.

Naruto follows him without complaint. Although his arm is starting to hurt. He almost fell a few times when they had gone downwards in a few of the tunnels. It doesn't take long to reach the throne room before Sasuke is knocking on the hard wood double doors. A quiet 'come in' resounds in response for the two to open one of the doors before closing it behind them. On the other side of the room, Madara and Nagato sit on their curled bodies with a large snake in front of them.

"Good, you're just in time," says Nagato with a smile towards his nephew and the concubine. "Pein was telling me about his wonderful find on his way back from one of the other villages. I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy them, Naruto."

The redhead motions for the dark brown, orange haired snake towards a door at the blond's left side. The brown snake glides over the wood floors to open it. What comes on out of it has Naruto freeze from where he stands. Sasuke looks over at the blond with curious eyes, wondering why he's standing there in such shock. It's kind of hard to tell if the human is still breathing. It's just a couple more humans. The black snake catches sight of a strong whiff from one of the new comers that can be smelt strongly on the blond, immediately causing jealousy to well up in Sasuke.

"Naruto," Kiba's voice break the blond's trance, being almost tackled to the floor by the brunette although during his greeting he's pushed aside by Kakashi. "Thank fuck you're alive. Hey, I wasn't done yet!"

"We all thought you were a goner when you fell into the sea!" the captain exclaims, ignoring Kiba's yells.

"I'm very much alive as you can see," Naruto wheezes out from the bear hug he's receiving, giving Neji a look to come help him, but the long haired brunette merely stands there with a smirk. "It looks like you got away from the pirates alright."

The blond takes in a deep breath once he's able to be let go Although it's only to be taken back into Kiba's arms, being lifted off the ground for a few seconds. Of course Sasuke is bristling in jealousy from this, trying to control it even though it's not easy. He so badly wants to snatch his blonde back into his arms, recently thinking Naruto has been starting to like him. He doesn't at all want the arrival of these humans to ruin whatever has been blossoming between them.

"Kiba, let me down!" Protests Naruto.

The large brunette obeys, but he doesn't let Naruto's glare stop him from kissing him right in front of Sasuke that's being held back by Pein, "There's no way I'm letting you go that easily again!"

Kiba goes to kiss the blond again, but he's pushed away gently. The brunette gives Naruto a confused gaze as to why he might push him away like this since the blond never has cared about doing it in public before. He wonders as to what has changed. Naruto sighs, allowing his shoulders to slump down. He knows that Kiba isn't going to take what he's going to say next lightly, not wanting to do this although he has to because he doesn't want Sasuke to go ballistic on him.

"Listen guys, when I first arrived they didn't know what to do with me. So, they made me Sasuke's concubine," blue eyes glance over towards the black snake that's looking at Kiba with a smug smirk because he knows all too well what he's talking about, causing his three buddies eyes look over as well.

"What?" Kiba asks bluntly.

_Great…. I knew he wasn't going to take this well, _sighs the blonde.

"You're that thing's concubine?" Kiba grabs a hold of Naruto's arms, looking into the oceanic gaze, begging the blond is only kidding although what he sees in Naruto as he turns his head to growl at Sasuke who flickers his tongue in victory.

Before the brunette can do anything irrational Naruto places a hand on his shoulder and smiles gently, "Are you ok with it?"

"Surely you're joking, right?" It's Kakashi this time, looking just as furious as Kiba about it.

Madara in the background looks like he's clearly enjoying this rather immensely while Nagato looks a tab bit worrisome. Pein looks uninterested, continuing to watch the scene roll out next to Sasuke. The black serpent is feeling rather giddy at the moment, loving it when he comes out victorious in the end.

Naruto shakes his head, rolling his eyes, "Look, they didn't know what to do with me. This was the only thing they could come up with. It's more like babysitting than anything else. Sasuke hasn't tried anything. He promised he'll take care of me. So, calm down."

He glares at his friend and captain. Neji doesn't look worried, but he appears rather amused about the arrangement. What the three really need to worry about is what will happen to them. Kakashi hesitantly nods after a few minutes, but gives Naruto a look to tell him that he still doesn't approve of this. Kiba doesn't look like he's going to relent at all, continuing to glare over Naruto's shoulder at Sasuke. The black snake glares right back, waiting impatiently for the brunette human to agree. Sasuke wants him to back away from his concubine. When Kiba takes a step closer to Naruto to wrap his arms around him causes Sasuke to hiss a warning.

"Kiba," Naruto starts with a small warning of his own.

"No, Naruto. I had you first. No other person or species is going to take you away from me," the large brunette growls out, daring the snake to say otherwise.

The blond lets out a sigh of annoyance. The human has hoped this might of ended easily. It doesn't at all seem like he'll gain that pleasantry today. Sasuke still hisses, his tail swishing back side to side as if ready to strike if necessary.

"Oh, really?" Sasuke snaps, slithering closer to rip Naruto away from Kiba to hold him in his own arms. "Well, you weren't here to object when he became my concubine in the first place. So, I guess you don't get a say in this."

"You want to go about this the hard way?" Kiba grabs the blond, pushing him away so that he isn't in between them.

The brunette cracks his knuckles, but the snake has a confused look on his face at what the human means. When Kiba pushes him, he knows soon enough what the annoying human wants. The prince is more than ready for a brawl, knowing in the end he'll be the victor. He won't dare to lose when his prize will be Naruto. Although today will definitely be the day for a fight.

"Don't touch me if you know what's good for you," hisses out Sasuke, rearing himself up on his tail to appear taller, but that doesn't teeter Kiba in the least because the brunette smirks as he pokes him in the side as Sasuke lunges at the brunette though Kiba has seen it coming as he moves aside.

Naruto watches from the sidelines with an annoyed expression while Neji still seems amused, "You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

The blond hisses this beneath his breath as he covers his eyes with his left hand. When he peeks out after a few moments, he gasps to see Kiba wrapped in Sasuke's tail although his arms are still free. It makes him able to keep struggling, trying to land a hit on him. It seems like Sasuke is slowly crushing him. Madara is the one to break up the fight at the very last second, tearing Kiba from Sasuke's grasp to push his nephew into the hands of Pein. He holds the black snake back while Madara holds the brunette up by his shirt to keep Kiba steady, growling from the human attacking his nephew. Rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance at the situation he has on his hands, he can tell that this is indeed quite troublesome now. Pein has yet to let go of Sasuke, having come to a stop with his struggles while he waits for his king to give him the demand to do something.

Kiba isn't ready to give up for Naruto's sake, "Let me go so I can tear that ugly tail off of him!"

Sasuke looks quite offended by that as his face scrunches up in anger, "What did you say you human filth? Say it one more time and I'll make sure your death is nice and slow with plenty of pain!"

He begins to struggle again. The large snake holding him is too strong to break free from. Naruto has had enough of this, deciding it will be him who'll break up the feud. Before Madara has the opportunity to say anything, Naruto speaks up.

"Enough!" he yells loudly, echoing in the large room to make every head turn towards him. "This is getting rather irritating. Kiba there's no need to act irrational about this. We're friends. Yes, we are friends with benefits. We're not lovers. I have to stop the benefits part because I know you're falling in love with me."

Kiba's eyes widen considerably at being found out for sadness and panic to well up in his heart at what Naruto is trying to say, "You know about that?"

"It's not very hard to tell when you practically wear your emotions on your sleeve. But Kiba…... I can't return your love. I love you, but only as a friend. The sex was amazing, but I think I need to stop it before we get too involved. I don't want anyone to become seriously harmed."

Naruto gives his friend a gentle and sad smile before it turns into an angry frown when he turns around to face a smug Sasuke, "And you! I'm not yours. I'm only your concubine because Nagato wants to make sure I'm safe and well taken care of. He entrusts you with the job, remember? You're the one who has told me."

"Hn," grunts Sasuke, averting his gaze from him.

"Now, Sasuke, Kiba, there will be no fighting over me. Do you understand?" Naruto waits until they nod their heads before he continues. "Good, Nagato what will become of my friends now? I mean what will they be doing in order to live here?"

Nagato that has been taken out from his shock by Naruto's voice, shrugs, "I don't know. I wasn't expecting anymore humans to show up suddenly. I can ask around and see if anyone is willing to house some humans. I guess we'll clear out a room for them to stay in until we can figure something out. I will call a servant to show you to your room."

"Thank you," Kakashi says with gratitude.

The red snake nods, going to the main door to open it, ordering a servant passing by to come in, "This is Sai. He'll escort you to an empty room."

The servant, Sai, looks at his ruler in chagrin. He doesn't at all question the redhead, jerking his head to the side for the humans to follow him. Without another word and not even waiting to see if they are walking after him. Kiba, Kakashi, and Neji start to follow the short black haired, white and black striped snake. The large brunette stops when he notices that Naruto isn't coming with them.

"Aren't you coming with us'?" Kiba asks, frowning when the blond shakes his head.

"No," says the blonde firmly.

"So, you're coming with me then?" Sasuke asks, looking a little arrogant with himself although it's his turn to frown when Naruto shakes his head again.

"Nope, I need some time to think... …alone," replies Naruto, turning to the redhead instead. "Nagato, so far you have shown me a great deals of compassion for me and my friends. I hate to ask of you if you can possibly arrange a room for myself."

Thank you. You're very sweet. I will call for another servant. I will advise you to return to Sasuke when you're ready."

**_Oks, that's the end of the chappie. I hope you all enjoyed. The next one will be out whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_**


	9. Clash

**_Hey y'all! It's Spirit here with the next chappie for Serpent's Temptress. Yeps, you get a double update today just because I feel like it. Hehes _**

**_Anyway, enough of the chatter. Let's get on with it now. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice comments. _**

**Chapter 8: Clash **

Once again he goes to the door, drawing in another wandering servant. "This is Deidara, he'll escort you to another room."

Deidara gives the monarch an appalling look, but bites his tongue from making any nasty remarks, "Awww, alright. I'll only do it because you're so nice to me, un."

The long blond haired snake with a bluish-black back and a yellow underbelly waits patiently until Naruto is beside him until he leaves with the human blond by his side. Kiba runs after his fellow mates after his friend disappears around the curb of the opposite hallway. Frowning deeply the whole way, the brunette doesn't like this one bit. Kiba feels hurt as his heart holds a note of sorrow, wishing that Naruto wants to go further with him. Alas, he has to be left alone. He hopes that he'll still be abel to remain friends with him. It's a small hope, but it's better than nothing.

()()()()()

Naruto doesn't know what to do. If he goes back to Sasuke now that will only cause more conflict between the black snake and Kiba. The same thing might happen if he goes to stay with his friends even though he won't be alone with the large brunette. Deidara who decides to stay when he sees the look of loneliness written on the human's face watches Naruto battle his inner turmoil. Blue eyes almost as bright as Naruto's, the left one is covered by his bangs, watching the human trudge back and forth across the room while deep in thought.

"Y'know," Deidara starts to say, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. "I can take you to the collection house to keep your mind off of your troubles for a few hours, un."

The blond human sighs in relief, nodding because he doesn't at all want to think anymore about his situation, "Thanks, I feel like my head is about to explode."

"From what, un?" the snake opens the door to what is considered a small room, but it's much larger than the room he has been in the mansion, having once lived with his parents as he let the human out first before taking the lead.

"From thinking too much about my friends and Sasuke… It's just too many things going on at once," Naruto feels glad this snake doesn't mind showing him around and staying beside him even though it looks like the blond snake has better things to do. "Thanks by the way."

"For what, un?" Asks the blonde, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Showing me around and staying with me. I'm sure you probably have other things you want to do," answers the younger blonde.

Deidara waves it off lazily, looking uninterested, "Not really. My mate's gone hunting and won't be back until later tonight, hmph. Everyone else is busy doing their servant duties, un. There's nothing much better to do anyway. Following you around keeps me from doing my regular duties for the day, un."

"Oh," he nods.

Giving Naruto a pleasant smile while opening a door that will lead him outside, Deidara tells him, "The collection house is just beyond these trees, un."

"So, how do you know English? I thought only nobles are allowed to know the other languages," Naruto finally asks after a few moments of a somewhat comfortable silence that has fallen between them.

Deidara scoffs, "Did your dad tell you that, un? Everyone knows about you being Minato's son by now. Word get's around fast, un. Anyway, it once was like that, but then Nagato began teaching us servants and anyone who wants to learn."

"Wow," murmurs Naruto, remaining quiet because he doesn't want to anger the older blonde.

Giving a shrug, Deidara continues, "English was taught first since it seemed the most popular language then we were taught Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and so on, un. There are still languages that we haven't even started yet since they just washed up on the beaches not too long ago, un."

"Oh, wow. How long does it take to learn one?" Asks Naruto.

"It depends on the language and snake, un. For me the hardest was English and Chinese. The easiest was German and Spanish," explains Deidara.

"How do you know that's what they're called?" Questions Naruto curiously.

"Dictionaries," is the simple response he receives.

"Oh," he says in response when Deidara said dictionaries, not thinking to expect something like that. "I only know English, Japanese, and German since my father was half German. I speak English because that's the language I spoke the most."

"German, un? So you're part German, part Japanese, and part snake, eh?" Smirks the older blonde.

"I guess so," shrugs Naruto.

They eventually reach a small clearing. At the center of it is a short, but wide tree that has been hollowed out. Deidara opens the small door, bending down to go inside. Naruto is following after him, letting his eyes adjust to the low light before he gasps at how much stuff has been collected from the beaches of the island. He isn't at all expecting there to be so much. They have everything. Then again, they probably have some things from his homelands in there. It ranges from chairs to telescoped, clothing to books, even a couple of crates full of empty rum and wine bottles.

"Oh, wow," Naruto gasps out beneath his breath, beginning to examine whatever he can get his hands on. "I've been meaning to read this."

He picks up a book called A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. It has come out not too long ago. Naruto is surprised to find a copy here, finding it to be in excellent condition. It pleases him greatly to see it isn't too weather worn from the salt water.

"May I borrow this?" Naruto asks him hopefully.

"You can borrow whatever you want in here as long as you take care of it. Make sure you put it back when you're done, hmph," replies Deidara, eying the thick book in Naruto's hands.

After a few moments, Deidara speaks up again in curiosity, "Since you're from the human world I've been wondering if you can tell me what this is, un."

He holds up a pistol that's not loaded, causing the human's eyes to grow wide in shock as he doesn't expect them to have any human weaponry, "Are there anymore?"

"Yeah, a hole crate full of them," Deidara shows the box of pistols and muskets to Naruto. "What are they?"

"They're guns," says the blonde simply, frowning while wondering as to who's ship they have come from.

"Guns?" he quirks an eyebrow in confusion by that word.

"Yeah, they're weapons that can really hurt people by shooting out these," says Naruto, opening a small leather bag he has been able to find full of led bullets. "They may look small, but they can be fatal. Haven't you ever read about these."

"No…... can you show me how they work, un?" he asks hopefully.

Naruto is a little surprised by the question, looking at the snake in astonishment, "Will I get in trouble?"

"Not unless you know how it works," explains Deidara. "If you don't then no, un."

Shrugging, Naruto reaches in to bring out a pistol and a few bullets, handing them to Deidara to hold onto while he grabs three of the glass wine bottles.

"Take me to a secluded place where I don't have to worry about hurting anyone," requests the blonde.

The snake nods, hurriedly making his way through the jungle. He moves slow enough for the human to keep up. He is of course excited about seeing a gun being used for the first time. It takes a while before Deidara decides that they are far enough away from endangering anyone, setting the gun down to keep the bullets in hand while Naruto sits the three bottles a few inches away from each other on a large tree root.

"Now, stay behind me," warns Naruto after he loads the hand gun as once the snake is a safe distance behind him, he aims a shot, pulling back the hammer with his thumb, and pulls the trigger.

Deidara jumps from the loud bang. The sudden explosion of the bottle startles him as well, but he has a large grin on his face. He gives a yelp of excitement from the second bang when another bottle shatters before Naruto can shoot the last bottle there is a worrisome yell that resounds out from the jungle behind them. There is then a panicked looking Sasuke and Juugo that come slithering towards them. The two are panting from how fast they have been moving.

"What the hell is that?" Sasuke yells, eying the gun in the human's hand warily. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Deidara wanted to know how a gun worked. So, I'm showing him," Naruto answers calmly, not exactly happy to see the black snake at the moment while he aims once more to take a shot, surprising the new comers because Naruto almost laughs at seeing the two bigger snakes jump back in fear; especially when they see the last glass bottle shatter into a thousand pieces. "Aw, out of bullets already."

"You need to have asked before you took anything out, especially... those weapon things." Sasuke remains cautious now that Naruto is holding a weapon that he knows how to use, eyeing the weapon in the human's hand while he slowly makes his way to the blond.

"Oh, really? Well, excuse me on taking something that belongs to us humans. Besides, Deidara was curious. I wanted something to take my mind off the situation between you and Kiba," Naruto accepts the handful of bullets that Deidara has collected for him while he and Sasuke are talking. "This seemed to do the trick before you showed up."

The blond snake set up a few more bottles before getting behind him again, feeling glad that there is a box full of empty wine and rum bottles in his arms to use for practice, "Thanks, Dei."

"No prob, un," grins the taller blonde.

The two large snakes expect the bang, but not one right after the other. A few more snakes start to show up to see what the loud noise is. It's only to become excited at seeing a weapon they have no idea how it works being used. Deidara orders them all to stay behind Naruto before setting a new row of bottles while the human reloads By then Kakashi, Neji, and Kiba show up with Sai. The snakes are starting to whisper amongst themselves, jumping and yelling excitedly when Naruto shot and destroys the rows of glass. Naruto reloads, being about to shoot again when a hand lands on his shoulder. Looking to see who it is, he smiles when he sees that it's Kakashi.

"May I have a try?" the older man asks.

"Sure," the blond hands his captain the gun, deciding that he no longer wants to be here because he's done with trying to keep his mind occupied due to how he's a few yards away before his forearm is suddenly grabbed for him to be pulled faster away from the crowd of excited snakes. "Kiba, what are you doing?"

"I need to talk to you," is the quick reply from the brunette.

He doesn't stop until they are far enough away, staying silent for a few seconds to think of what to say, "Naruto, I know you needed some time alone to think, but about what? Why must you be alone to think? You can think while you're with us, can't you?"

"No, you and Kakashi probably would've annoyed me. You two would've got on my back about what was bothering me," Naruto replies calmly. "I would stay with you guys, but that would only cause conflict between you and Sasuke. The same would happen if I stayed with Sasuke."

"Hell yeah! I don't trust that snake," growls the Inuzuka.

"I don't as much either, but I'm getting there," Naruto rolls his eyes at the disheveling gaze he's receiving. "I can tell he wants me, but he hasn't really tried anything. Well, at least he hasn't anymore after I decked him. I'm kind of upset his black eye was gone by morning."

"Naruto, this is no laughing situation. We're on an island full of snake creatures that can kill us in our sleep. Those pirates are still out there looking for us," rubbing the bridge of his nose, Kiba shakes his head that makes Naruto nervous by the way he's acting. "I know I may seem a little high strung right now, but I have the right to be because I thought I lost you…..."

The blond gives a sad frown, hugging the brunette, "I'm sorry."

Kiba gladly hugs back, letting himself be held by his friend, shoving his face into Naruto's neck to take in his scent, "I was scared that you were dead only to find out you're that creature's concubine. Do you know how stressful it's been these last few days?"

"I'm here now. Sasuke's taking good care of me. So, don't worry," letting go, Naruto smiles gently while brushing the back of his hand against Kiba's cheek. "Well, you can worry, but just don't get all paranoid on me."

The brunette nods, a little disappointed when Naruto brings his hand back to his side, "Just promise me if anything happens with that Sasuke guy that's what you want, ok?"

A little confused at what he means, the blond nods, giving Kiba one last smile, "I'm going to go find Sasuke. I need to talk to him about something. I'll check on you guys later."

He watches Kiba nod while he left. Brushing past Sasuke that's looking like he has been searching for the blond for a while, the two don't speak until the brunette is gone out of sight and mind. The snake takes it upon himself to start first. He doesn't at all want to be the one feeling awkward between them. Sasuke isn't exactly the best at this emotions thing, but he can't ignore what Naruto provokes in him.

"So, have you been able to clear your thoughts?" Asks Sasuke.

"Yeah, pretty much. Is there a beach near here? I will like to talk with you there if we can," Naruto replies, hands clasped behind his back.

Sasuke gives an affirming nod, "Yeah if we go straight that way we'll be at one of the shores in no time at all."

The snake offers to give the blond a ride on his back. He wants to make it be a faster trip. Naruto ends up deciding to take it, clambering onto Sasuke's back to wrap his arms around the creature's neck with legs clutching around his waist. Once Sasuke deems Naruto secure he begins to move. He feels a little nervous, not knowing what Naruto wants to talk about with him, but he has a good idea about the subject, hoping that Naruto has chosen him.

The waves are crashing against the shore. It is the only sound at the moment when they arrive at their destination. Naruto is too busy taking in the beach's beauty while Sasuke waits impatiently for the blond to begin. The sand doesn't feel right against his underbelly. Although the snake has to agree the beach is a peaceful place, having not been here in a long time.

"Sasuke?" Pipes up Naruto, causing the snake to snap his attention towards the blonde.

The snake almost cries out in relief when the blond speaks his name which is a sign Naruto is ready to talk, "Yes?"

"Do you want me?" Asks the blonde bluntly.

"Excuse me?" He's having a hard time believing what he's hearing here, swallowing hard as he can't help to feel heat creeping onto his cheeks.

"Do you want me? I mean do you want to have sex with me?" Naruto is now looking at Sasuke expectantly with a eyebrow raising up as, starting to like how he makes the other squirm at his question.

Sasuke doesn't say anything, thinking over on how he needs to tell the human about how he's very much indeed wanting to mate with him, "Well, yeah I do. I mean you're not like the others who want to mate with me. You're rather delicious looking to me. I guess in other words I want you for not just your body."

Nodding, Naruto stays calm, having already known that's the answer, "I see. What if I say no and go back to Kiba?"

"I probably would be angry as hell, but I wouldn't stop you if that's what you want. I can't force you to have sex with me," the glare on the snake's face tells Naruto that Sasuke is having a hard time saying this, but the blond knows that the reptile will keep his word.

Naruto smiles gently at this, his eyes are bright which have Sasuke's heart skip a beat or two at how beautiful the blond looks at the moment with his long blond braid flapping gently with the light breeze, his spikes being ruffled…. The blush on Sasuke's cheeks causes Naruto to smile wider, teeth showing a little when he gives a small laugh. Sasuke's face softens a bit at the sweet sound. He decides that he indeed really wants to keep the blond.

"I think that you do want me, but not only because of my body. I mean I know you've said this, but still…. I think it's also for something more. You just don't know it yet since it's too soon. I've come to the decision that I'll stay with you for the time being. I would like to stay with my friends, but being around Kiba is too awkward for me right now. Besides, it's going to be more interesting to see what happens between us."

**_Oks, that's the end of the chappie. I hope you all enjoyed. The next one will be out whenever I'm done revising it. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_**


	10. Hawk

**_Hey y'all! It's Spirit here. Thank you all for your lovely kind comments on this so far. It's been great to know others are loving it too. Hopefully I'm doing a good enough job revising this. I'm doing my best at least. Hehes _**

**_Anyway, let's cut the chatter for now. I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice comments. _**

**Chapter 9: Hawk **

Sasuke yells mentally in victory while smirking smugly on the outside, "Good, but will you ever mate with me?"

Naruto appears to be thinking it over before he smirks back, "Maybe. You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"

He turns around, walking along the shore before Sasuke can answer. He manages to keep his eyes open if he finds anything interesting on the beach. The snake quickly follows suit after him, giving the blond quick glances from time to time due to how he feels a little confused at what Naruto means. He remains quiet, not wanting to break the comfortable silence although he does keep an eye out to ensure they are in any danger considering they are far enough away from the village. Any rogue can and would attack them. Keeping Naruto safe is his top priority at the moment.

"Hey, look!" Naruto shouts, pointing down the beach.

Sasuke looks, feeling surprised to see a rather large boat. It seems to have washed up on the sand. It's tilted on it's side a little with it's broken down mast to keep it from completely falling over. It seems like it hasn't been there for very long, but it does look like it's in very bad shape. Sasuke follows after the blond to the boat, looking around to see if there are any signs of footprints in the sand. He does manage to find regular bird prints along with a set of prints which look like a mammal's, but there are no human or snake prints. When he deems it safe, Naruto enters the large hole in the bow of the boat, going to explore. Sasuke makes sure to stay close to him while he takes a look around at the goods which don't seem to have been washed away with the sea. Something doesn't quite feel right about this place, not knowing precisely why even though he can't seem to shake it off. Sasuke wants to hurry up and get out of here even if he has to drag Naruto out as well. Everything seems to be quiet except for the subtle splashes against the haul of the boat.

"Hey, Sasuke, check this out!" the blond exclaims from another room in the boat as once the reptile has found him, noticing that Naruto is holding a bottle full of some kind of brown liquid. "Well, ain't it my lucky day? This crate is full of ale and wine!"

Sasuke has heard of wine and ale from the other snakes who has tried some. He sees what it does to them. It causes them to act like stupid fools and klutzes. Now, he wonders if humans act the same way whenever they drink that sort of stuff. Deciding to watch the blond bring it back outside, he places it on the ground a safe distance away from the water before going back in. The black snake never leaves his side for a second. Naruto manages to find several things that he deems interesting and useful, piling them outside on top of the crate full of liquor. When he's finally done with the bottom half of the ship he goes upstairs to explore the upper deck. Naruto isn't at all expecting to be suddenly tackled to the floor by a large white dog with brown floppy ears. The blond yelps out a little when he hits the ground, yelling out in pain when the dog bites his arm. Sasuke quickly uses his tail to whip the animal, causing the dog to yelp and jump away. It growls and barks at the intruders. For the first time Sasuke looks actually terrified for him. This is being caused by the very large dog. The reptile has never seen anything like this before. The loud barks, growls, and snapping of teeth keep Sasuke from wanting to wrap his tail around the animal and squeeze the life out of it. The snake is clearly shocked when Naruto lies down on the floor, he slowly scoots across it to get close to the animal, looking as nonthreatening as he can.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asks in a hiss, earning a growl from the animal.

"It's a dog on a boat. It was most likely the captain's or the crew's dog before something happened to them," replies Naruto quietly, making kissing noises and whistled to the dog to calm it down before he goes to him. "Hey, puppy."

"Dog? What the hell is a dog?" Scowls Sasuke.

"That's a dog," scoffs Naruto.

Sasuke looks unimpressed, "I know, dobe. What I mean is what are dogs to humans?"

"Dogs can mean anything to us. Usually people buy a dog to have as a friend. That friend will almost do anything for you if you train and raise it right," Naruto has now been able to roll onto his side to just lie there, smiling at the dog kindly.

Sasuke has lowered himself as well, trying to appear as innocent as Naruto, but it's kind of difficult by his threatening body. When he does this though, he notices that the dog stops growling and barking. It still has its ears back. Slowly the dog makes it's way over towards the blond who reaches out a hand for the animal to sniff. The wet nose makes contact with Naruto's hand. It begins to take in the human's scent, finding him nonthreatening as it licks the blond's hand. Deeming it safe, Naruto begins to pet the dirty head of the dog, causing it to pant and loll it's tongue out. Sasuke finds it's characteristics odd as he slowly approaches it which intern makes the dog growl and back up. Naruto tells the snake to stop where he is for him to stay low before he sits up. He then beckons the dog to come back to him. It does, but hesitantly while keeping an eye on Sasuke. Once again Naruto earns its trust to pet him again, motioning for Sasuke to stay where he is for the moment.

"Hey, boy," says Naruto with a smile, finding the dog's panting and sticking out tongue to be relaxing. "Look how big you are! Is there anyone else on this boat?"

Immediately, the panting is gone and its tongue rolls back into its mouth. The dog trots off towards a door near the back of the boat where the captain's brig is. He uses its nose to push the door that has been left slightly cracked open. The dog goes on in, but it's only to stick out its head and bark quietly. It seems to be whining until Naruto makes his way to the door, telling Sasuke to stay when the reptile makes a move to follow has the snake bite his bottom lip in worry. Naruto peeks into the destroyed room before going all the way in. It takes a moment for his eyes to get used to the dark room, but he does manage to find the dog's silhouette next to what used to be the captain's bed. The dog whines, giving little yelps for Naruto to hurry over to it. The pup seems to want him to check out what he has found. The blond quickly walks over towards the cot, seeing someone is lying unconscious on it. Naruto goes into action, picking up the light weight man, carrying him back outside so he can properly see what condition the man is in.

Sasuke is at his side in an instant when he sees Naruto carrying someone, ignoring the dog's growling, "Is he alright?"

"I don't know," replies Naruto, pushing away the man's shoulder length hair away from his face, gasping at what he sees as the man is quite tan with a scar that crosses over the bridge of his nose as it's a shade darker than the rest of his skin.

"What? What is it?" Sasuke asks, curious and worried as he thinks the blonde recognizes the man he has found.

"Iruka?"

Confusion consumes Sasuke's face, looking down at the darker skinned man, asking Naruto, "You know this male?"

"He was my teacher back when my father and mother were still alive," answers the blonde, shaking the man gently. "He was the one who taught me how to speak English."

When the man doesn't respond from the shaking, Naruto slaps Iruka across the face lightly, but it is enough force which is supposed to wake the man, starting to pat his face when the slap doesn't seem to work, "Iruka, hey! Iruka, wake up!"

"Is he breathing? Can you hear a heartbeat?" the snake asks when the new male doesn't wake up.

"I didn't think of that," Naruto's cheeks flush up a little, leaning his head down to his chest, hearing the slow thump rhythm as he also feels above Iruka's mouth to feel the warm breeze coming from it, sighing in relief when he feels the puff of breath hit his hand, seeing the man's chest rise up before receding back down. "He's alive, but he remains unconscious."

"Maybe he took a blow to the head," suggests Sasuke.

Eyes widen a little at the possibility as the blond gently picks up the man's head. He checks it just to make sure, finding nothing. He doesn't even see a small bump. Naruto feels concern for him; especially in a place like this. He of course wants to help the man, wondering if Iruka is capable of waking up at this point.

"Maybe he was drugged or something," Naruto tries again with patting his cheek, but this time it's a little harder, but his efforts have him receiving a groan as Iruka clenches his eyes. "Hey, Iruka. I need you to wake up!"

Another groan elicits from him before brown eyes slowly blink open, squinting from the bright light, "W-What?"

"Don't sit up," Naruto scolds when his old teacher tries to push himself up. "What happened?"

Confused and disoriented, Iruka blinks several times before he answers in a croak, "I don't know. I remember having breakfast before everything went blank. Who are you?"

"It's me, Naruto," the blond smiles when those brown eyes widen in realization.

"Naruto?" the man looks at Naruto in complete shock at how old the blond looks.

"Yeah, that's me. Don't wear it out," chuckles Naruto lightly, glad Iruka finally has come back to consciousness.

"Where are we?" Asks Iruka, lazily glancing around the immediate area.

Naruto looks back towards Sasuke who makes himself known by explaining, "You're on Floral Island. It's a place not known to humans except Naruto, his three friends, and now you."

Iruka's mouth falls open while his eyes widen again at the snake before him, "Wow."

"This is Sasuke. He's been taking care of me these past few days. I'll have him explain his race after we return home," says Naruto as it does feel kind of odd calling the creatures' village home, but that's what it is for the time being. "Sasuke, can you please carry him? Be gentle because we don't know if he has any other kind of ailment."

The snake nods once, picking up the still wide eyed man, leading the blond back home, "We'll come back for the stuff later. Though it might be a better idea if I send someone to come fetch them."

"Ok," Naruto isn't really paying attention to what Sasuke is saying, feeling worried about his old teacher and first friend. "Can we hurry and get him checked out?"

Raising an eyebrow, Sasuke nods as he picks up his pace speed. He makes sure he isn't going too fast. He doesn't want to leave the blond behind, being unsure how his uncle will react to another human. One might think they are a human magnet or perhaps the island attracts them. He hopes that no one is going to try stealing Naruto from him. Sasuke already thinks Naruto being his, not allowing anyone else to have him.

_Hn, he has chosen me after all…. I suppose I will indeed have to wait and see…_

()()()()()

Sitting outside alone with no blond is the worst. Kiba ends up deciding on this while sitting on a rather large and wide tree branch. It protrudes out from outside his and his friends' window. It's more like a circular hole in the wall. He's about several hundred yards above the ground, but he doesn't seem to be at all afraid of heights. No, he has rather good balance, thinking that being up here might allow him to see everything going on below him. Right now, two male snakes are meeting up with each other. They are having a heavy make out session. One of them is rather large with orange hair with a white tail and yellow blotches. The other one is much smaller with whiter hair and a completely white tail. He thinks that it must be an albino. Normally this might of had Kiba whistle out as he'll make a suggestion to join them, but he refrains from doing so. It seems that he's not in the mood for it. He has been ignoring the couple for the past ten minutes, noticing that it's going rather well until the submissive snake which is definitely the white one is becoming too loud in his moans. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Kiba goes back inside where Kakashi and Neji sit eating a variety of foods that have been on the table for them before they had arrived back from their little shoot out earlier today. Kiba isn't particularly hungry at the moment, being too frustrated at himself for letting Naruto go so easily. That bastard snake has no right to snatch his blond away even though Naruto no longer wants to fuck with him.

Neji is becoming annoyed with his shipmate's attitude as he says, "Kiba, why don't you sit down and eat? You're starting to bother me with that dark cloud over you."

He takes a drink elegantly from the carved out wooden cup that is full with some kind of fabulous fruit juice. The large brunette glares his way, watching the long haired brunette eat and drink as if he's from noble birth which isn't wrong actually. The Hyuga clan is a regal and prestigious one.

"Do you want to know something, Neji? I've always wondered why you joined us. I mean you had a pretty nice life back where we've come from," mutters the larger brunette, continuing to glare at him.

"If being a servant because you're from the branch family is what you call a pretty good life then maybe you can take my place. You'd have to listen to my uncle's dumb banters and squabbles," Neji replies with an irritable look in his gaze while Kakashi and Naruto have had always known why the dainty brunette had decided to join them, but Kiba somehow has been left out from the fray.

Kiba shrugs, agreeing that living on a boat is definitely way better than being a servant for some stuck up aristocrat, "What's it like being a servant for a stuck up family member?"

Neji raises an eyebrow, "A lot harder than one might initially think. If it's someone I didn't know then maybe it might of been a lot better. I had been lucky Hinata had a kind heart. I was her personal servant, but she had no back bone. It annoyed me like no other."

Looking uninterested, Kiba decides that he needs to get out of the room. Opening the door, he's almost trampled as several servants slither down the hall quickly. They are appearing to be frantic. Kiba follows after them until they come to a room that he guesses is supposed to be a hospital room of some sort since there are hurt nagas laying around the room with others attending to them. When he is inside of the room he sees that bastard snake Sasuke. It causes him to glance around frantically to see if Naruto is with him, spotting the blond quickly enough sitting down on a rug on the ground next to someone who isn't a snake. This one seems to be a human. Moving towards his friend, Kiba manages to snag a closer look of who Naruto is sitting next to. Before he can get any closer he's suddenly being shoved out by two of the female snakes. They are telling him that he isn't allowed in here before they return to work once they have effectively shoved him out. The medics also shut the door in his face. A little annoyed by the reaction, Kiba stays where he is, waiting until someone comes out to answer his questions. It doesn't take long until Kakashi and Neji show up with a male redhead snake. There also seems to be a female blond snake. Kiba lifts an eyebrow at the two new comers, but doesn't say anything as he turns his gaze to his captain and shipmate. The large brunette is about to ask how they have found him, but the redhead speaks up first.

"The whole village has been murmuring to each other about Sasuke and Naruto coming back with a stranger not too long ago," the redhead says simply. "We decided to come see for ourselves. We ran into these two on the way. Did you see who it was?"

Kiba nods his head as he responds, "But I don't know who it is although he's human. Naruto seems to know him. It might be someone he knew from his other life before he came to join us on the ship."

"Well, if Naruto knows him then he mustn't be a threat," Kakashi states, picking at a scab on his hand, looking uninterested about the whole thing.

Neji rolls his eyes, "I suppose so."

"Whatever," Kiba murmurs.

The brunette is beginning to wonder why all this shit is happening to them. Sure, it is awesome they manage to see a new species, but it isn't as great as it seems to be the longer they stay there. It's about half an hour before the door opens again. Naruto walks out with Sasuke in company by the new stranger. It seems that he just so happens to wash up on this island. Kakashi's eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the newcomer, being beside the blond in a second to question the dark skinned male up close and personal without looking suspicious. His eagerness doesn't go unnoticed by the snake. Naruto lets out a sigh of relief to see all of his friends here. So, he doesn't have to worry about going off to fetch them to introduce them to his teacher.

"Guys, this was my teacher and friend back when my parents were alive. Iruka, this is Kiba, Kakashi, and Neji," introduces Naruto.

Kiba and Neji shake the teacher's hand, but Kakashi cups the tanned hand as he gives it a kiss like a man will do to a woman as the silver haired captain says silkily with a smirk, eyes alight with arousal, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Iruka quickly pulls his hand away with a blush, clearing his throat while averting his gaze from the man, "Uh, it's nice to meet you too."

Kiba snorts, holding back a laugh while Neji sighs. Naruto chuckles at this, knowing that Iruka is obviously liking the attention by the way he's fidgeting. He Also, he's glancing back at Kakashi every few seconds. Sasuke finds this rather amusing as well, feeling that humans and snakes aren't all that different at all when it comes to showing their interests to someone.

"Ok, Kakashi," Naruto begins while walking away with a sigh, pulling Iruka with him. "No need to scare the newcomer. He's already frightened as it is."

He gives his captain a warning glare over his shoulder, but it looks rather cold causing Sasuke to be thankful he isn't the cause of it this time, "Heh, that'll show the baka."

Naruto rolls his eyes, "Maybe."

Kakashi puts his hands up in defense while following after them, Kiba and Neji are beside Sasuke in front of them and close to the blond, "Ok, ok, no need to be nasty. I was just offering my best hospitality is all."

"Well, there's no need to go overboard. Sasuke, please lead us towards where we need to go," Naruto stops to move aside to make enough room for the snake, giving Kakashi one last look before following after the creature.

()()()()()

"You seem rather tired," Sasuke states, watching Naruto lean against the door post while looking out into the darkness of the jungle, listening to the many different night sounds while the naga is sitting beside him with his tail tucked under him, giving the blond a worried glance.

Naruto yawns, "Thanks for noticing. It's been a rather troublesome day."

Several hours ago after Iruka met Madara and Nagato the brunette has been given a room next to Kakashi's, Neji's, and Kiba's room. Also, he has been given some food and orders from Nagato to get some much needed rest. After that Naruto was bombarded with questions from his mates and captain on what happened which the blond hesitantly answered. He hadn't wanted to. His past was a sensitive subject, not liking to talk about it although they wouldn't relent until they received the answers they wanted. He feels glad it's all over for now, hoping that it won't occur again.

"Go to sleep. It's kind of late," Sasuke leads the human over to the large mat where he sleeps, curling around Naruto to help keep him warm.

The blond tiredly lies down, setting his head on Sasuke's tail, the scales cool to the touch despite the air being rather warm, "I'll wake you up if anything happens."

"Alright, thanks," Naruto is soon asleep within minutes.

Sasuke waits another half hour before he moves away from the human, making his way to his uncle's bedroom. He's hoping they aren't doing anything when he arrives there. Knocking, he sighs in relief when he hears Madara giving permission to enter. Upon entering, Sasuke sees Madara pacing around the room in deep thought while Nagato is curled up on his and his mate's sleeping area, rubbing his stomach while looking worriedly at his king.

Madara stops when he sees that it's his nephew, "Sasuke, why are you here?"

"I want to ask you about the stranger. Have you found anything else out?" Sasuke replies while giving the red snake an odd look.

Madara shakes his head, "No, all he can remember before everything went blank is that he was eating. To me it sounds like he was drugged, but what for?"

He begins to pace again, giving his mate worried glances once in a while, looking between the two Sasuke asks, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just pregnant again," Nagato says sheepishly, blushing at the raised eyebrow Sasuke gives him. "It's not my fault your uncle has a lot of energy and good seeds when in heat."

"Ok, ew I don't need to know that," says Sasuke with a grimace. "Well, at least Pein will be getting that little sibling he's been wanting, but I thought you became barren after having him."

Nagato nods in agreement with a small smile. Madara clearly isn't looking forward to another child. It shows, but it isn't because he doesn't want a child. No, he's pleased about it, thinking that Nagato is rather weak when he had Pein. The last thing he wants is for his mate to become burdened by weakness. So, they don't know how the next one will go.

"I'm sure everything will be fine," the nephew says, giving the two reassuring glances.

"Goodnight," he says quietly before he leaves the two to their thoughts and closes the door behind him, a little excited about having a cousin.

When he returns to his room he's jumped by the dog they have saved from earlier. Sasuke swallows the yelp when he's suddenly pushed to the ground, frowning when his face is given a lick by the huge dog.

"I was wondering where it went," he mumbles, pushing the dog off of him, wiping his face off as the dog runs off when they had arrived with Iruka at the castle, but Sasuke is surprised it hasn't been eaten yet.

Rising up off the floor, the snake lets the dog follow beside him to his room. He allows it in, feeling glad the dog doesn't seem to bother Naruto. Sasuke curls himself back up around the blond, placing the human's head back on his tail before feeling the dog's dirty fur against his scales. First thing tomorrow he knows that he needs to wash the dog in the springs.

_Well, it's smooth sailing so far. He's letting me be this close. Maybe things won't be so bad after all. _

**_Oks, that's the end of the chappie. I hope you all enjoyed. The next one will be out shortly whenever I finish revising it. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_**

**_Oh and if you want me to work on more SasuNaru stories don't hesitate to let me know. Hehes _**


	11. Whisker

**_Hey y'all! Here's the next chappie of Serpent's Temptress for you. I hope you all enjoy it. Hehes _**

**_Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice comments. I look forward to any feedback given. _**

**Chapter 10: Whisker **

The next morning, Naruto finds himself snuggled up to Sasuke's human half tightly. His muscled arms are wrapped around his waist. What else he notices is the dog is nowhere to be seen. The blond feels heat rush to his cheeks at the closeness of the other's chest to his face, thinking the skin is rather soft to his cheek. The pale pink nipple right in front of his face is standing straight u. It's almost looking like a cone, thinking he might of moved away if it isn't for the arms as well as his body being so nicely wrapped in Sasuke's tail. The appendage is keeping him warm. Oddly enough, he kind of likes it. To him it feels comfortable. At least he does until he feels the need to take a leak.

"Uh, Sasuke?" Naruto whispers, shaking the snake's shoulder gently. "I need my body back."

What he receives is merely a groan from the naga. Sasuke clearly doesn't at all want to move. Growling slightly, Naruto begins struggling, having him wanting to piss even more. After a few seconds of struggling the arms wrap tighter around the blond, pressing against his bladder harshly. He feels incredibly uncomfortable now.

"Oh, Kami! I can't hold it anymore," he whispers before letting it go, grimacing at the wetness in front of his pants.

Only then does Sasuke wake up from the warm wet heat against his stomach. His eyes blink open as he stares down at the wet spot on his stomach. He notices that it's in front of Naruto's pants.

Glaring suspiciously down at the human, he asks, "Please tell me you didn't do what I think you've done?"

Naruto glances up sheepishly before remembering that it's all the snake's fault in the first place, "It's not my fault! You're the one who won't let go of me. I really couldn't hold it in anymore!"

Squirming away, Naruto climbs over the scaly fence around him. He takes off his trousers and underwear, unsure how he feels about exposing his rear to the creature in the room. Sasuke clearly likes what he sees here, raising a suggestive eyebrow, smirking smugly to himself. He almost whines when Naruto pulls off his shirt to wrap it the best he can around his waist to cover his private parts.

"Aw, why do you do that? There's no need to cover up around me….. I like what I see immensely," pouts Sasuke.

The blond rolls his eyes, becoming rather used to the other's suggestive words. Although he does blush. He also feels butterflies floating around in his stomach at the complement. Turning around to face the handsome snake, Naruto does his best to glare at Sasuke. It's kind of hard for him to do it with the situation presenting itself between them.

"Can you find me some clothes? I don't want to walk around like this all day," requests the blonde.

"I don't know if I really want to… You haven't exactly been nice this morning," Sasuke teases, smiling ever so mockingly at him.

It soon disappears at the blank face Naruto's giving him. Sighing, the snake rolls his eyes as he heads out for the door. The least he can do is try appeasing the human. It seems to be one of the best ways to stay on his good side.

"Ok, fine. I'll go look for something, alright?" Hisses out Sasuke, leaving behind a slightly smirking Naruto.

By the time Sasuke comes back Naruto has already eaten. He has also been able to clean up the mess he had made on himself by using his shirt. This leaves him completely naked again. The tanned human covers up his loins when the creature enters. Sasuke can't help himself, gazing at the human's body, flicking out his tongue against his lips. Naruto's face lights up brightly at the lust he sees in those dark eyes, causing him to avert his gaze from the dark haired male. Pitying the human, Sasuke throws some kind of light material at the blonde, figuring that if he continues to appease Naruto then it might end up causing them to grow possibly closer to one another.

"This is all I could find since your friends have taken the rest of the clothing, but I think it'll suit you rather well," explains Sasuke.

Naruto pulls whatever lands on his head, holding it out in front of him. It's a dark blue kimono with brown intricate designs flowing through it, thinking it's quite beautiful. He decides that he'll admit that, but it is a woman's kimono instead of the proper one for a male's form.

Naruto lifts an eyebrow, glancing up at the other in disbelief, "You expect me to wear this?"

"Of course," smirks Sasuke. "Is there a problem with it?"

"You do know this is for women, right?" Asks Naruto.

"Oh, really? I never knew," Sasuke feigns innocence although the dark smirk spreading on his lips entirely ruins it.

Sighing, Naruto decides to put it on anyways. It's either that or go naked, not wanting to go with the latter of the two. Besides there is nothing else. Tying the obi that's laying in front of him around his waist to keep the article of clothing closed, he notices that it's a little large even though he doesn't mind. He guesses that it's most likely made for a heavy set woman. So, the kimono slides down his shoulders a little, leaving his chest almost completely bare.

"This is embarrassing," pouts Naruto.

"I think it looks sexy," comments Sasuke, his smirk remaining plastered on his lips.

"I'm not asking for your opinion, now am I?" Naruto snaps, trying to find a way to keep the clothing over his shoulders to find out that it just makes the kimono wrinkle and look odd where his chest is.

Sighing in agitation, Naruto lets it be as he puts his boots on, nose wrinkling at how silly he must look, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I like to go check on Iruka."

Sasuke flinches slightly when the door to his bedroom slams closed. It causes one of his eyes to twitch as his brows furrow, wondering what he has done to the blond this time. Unfortunately, it's only to come up with nothing since he has said and done what he's been doing ever since he first met the human. Deciding that it doesn't exactly matter, Sasuke leaves his room, making his way to the throne room. He wants to go visit Nagato, figuring he might have some advice to spare.

()()()()()

"-and that's all you remember?" Kakashi asks the brunette in front of him, admiring the darker skinned man's features, sighing when Iruka nods, slumping down onto his back in exhaustion.

"I'm sorry I can't remember anything else," Iruka mumbles, hating the fact he can't at all remember what happened after he ate back on the ship he was on.

Kakashi waves it off with his hand, "You were most likely drugged."

He pulls himself up into a sitting position, inspecting the other closely. This causes Iruka to blush; especially since the white haired captain has quite the handsome face. He thinks that this because it is no longer hidden, having not had his mask on ever since he washed up on the island.

"But for why you were I don't know. Is there anything you can remember? I mean like how the crew of the ship acted around you?" Asks Kakashi, his tone gentle as he knows that this is rather frustrating to say the least for the other male.

Iruka purses his lips together, routing around in his brain for a bit until something pops up, "Actually, the day before I blacked out suddenly I remember a few of the men kept giving me odd glances. It was like they were afraid of having me on board. I couldn't do anything about it. What could they be afraid of?"

Hmm, what could've caused those men to be afraid of him? the captain thinks, glancing at the man from where he lies, thankful Kiba and Neji had left a good while ago to explore. "Did they say anything unusual?"

Iruka is about to shake his head, but stops when he remembers a conversation he heard one night between the captain and his first mate, "Well, I remember the captain and his mate talking about these pirates who are involved with human trafficking."

That's when it dawns on him as the brunette's eyes widen, "They couldn't mean they left me to…..would they?"

Kakashi is sitting up before the other stops, giving the other a sad glance, "Most likely, but why would they drug you then leave the ship? It doesn't make sense."

The captain muses, glaring at the mat underneath him, "Unless they were attacked before they could get away. If that were the case why would the pirates leave you behind?"

Sighing in frustration, Iruka lets his head fall into his hands, his hair falls around his face for it to hide it, "Maybe it was a different set of pirates or they thought I was dead."

"Perhaps they left everything behind. At least that's what I know from what Naruto has told me. There was even a dog," Kakashi suggests. "Now, what kind of pirate would leave behind all those goods that could be useful to them?"

"A dog?" Iruka asks with a tilt of his head. "The boat I was on before all this happened didn't have a dog. They wouldn't allow it."

After hearing this, the captain straightens up, giving the other man a curious look, "So, that means the ship that washed up onto the beach wasn't yours…. It can only mean you were taken. Yet you were still unconscious so you don't know what happened to the people which had taken you."

This is beginning to frustrate Iruka. There are oh so many questions, but there are little answers. Paling, Iruka wraps his arms around himself, wondering if the people who had taken him had done something to him other than steal him. He doesn't feel any aches or pains except for a headache after he had woken, but that is it. The headache has been gone for a while, leaving Iruka in a wash of relief, but it is starting to come back from all these questions. Without warning, he shivers at the thought of some filthy pirate running their hands all over his unconscious body. The brunette tenses up when he feels Kakashi saddle up beside him, placing a hand over his shoulder. Iruka knows that the captain is trying to comfort him, but he doesn't exactly know how to properly do it except does feel glad for the effort. Relaxing a little from the touch, Iruka lets out a deep sigh, wishing Naruto is here since he's his ex-student. He knows the blond the most out of all the crew he recently has met. Iruka is about to open his mouth when he is interrupted by a loud bark. The two men turn their attention to see it is the dog. They notice that it's clean with Kiba right beside him.

"Have you guys been able to figure anything out?" the large brunette asks while strutting in, closing the door behind him to sit down with the dog laying at his feet.

Iruka shrugs while Kakashi says, "Not really. All we have been able to find out is the ship Iruka was found on isn't his. So, now we have to ask what happened to the crew on that ship."

Letting out a sigh, Kiba lies on his back, looking up at the ceiling in thought, "What if it's that thing that attacked our ship?"

This catches Kakashi's attention quickly as the silver haired man seems to be considering it while Iruka looks between them in confusion, "It might be possible since strange things have been happening lately."

Running a hand down his face, he leans against Iruka, telling the brunette he's tired. Iruka blushes, but doesn't seem to mind. He thinks that he is slowly warming up to him.

Kiba rolls his eyes at the obvious lie, but doesn't say anything when he sees the teacher isn't complaining, "So, you taught Naruto, huh? It must've been tough."

Iruka shrugs, "Kind of. He's a smart kid, but he always wanted to get up and do something."

He smiles at the old memories of the blond trying and sometimes succeeding on skipping out on lessons. Yet Naruto would always pass the tests Iruka gave him without any trouble. He can't believe how big the youngster has gotten. It makes him feel old, feeling somber about what has happened to Kushina and Minato although he does think that Naruto has grown stronger from the traumatic experiences. He knows the blonde won't forget his parents because the good and bad memories will always be with him throughout the rest of his life.

"That's why I enlisted him on my ship when I saw what he could do," the captain states with a grin. "I took Kiba as well. It's funny really. He and Kiba were stowaways on my ship. My crew thought they were thieves by the way they were dressed. They attacked them, but it was only to be brought down quickly. I had watched the fight. When it finished I asked them to become part of the crew."

"And of course we said yes," Kiba adds, petting the dog's head.

"It's a damn good thing you two did," murmurs Kakashi.

"Naruto didn't want to go back home after..." he trails off as sadness fills his dark eyes, looking down as he remembers the tragic accident all those years ago. "After that happened. I promised myself that I would never leave him and followed wherever he went."

"Are you talking about the death of his father?" the older brunette asks, getting his answer when Kiba looks up at him in surprise. "Naruto told me about it last night... well at least a little bit of it. It's a shame for a child as young as he to lose his parents... at least he got to enjoy them longer then I did mine."

The last part is a little mumbled, glancing away, looking a little envious. His eyes widen at what he just has said, looking a little ashamed of himself for saying such a thing. The silver haired captain manages to hear the mumbled sentence and is a little surprised to hear that Iruka too has lost his parents at such a young age.

"How did they pass?" he asks quietly.

Iruka notices Kakashi is resting his head on his shoulder before looking down at his feet, "From a plague that wiped out most of my town I was lucky. I was visiting with my grandparents at the time in another village. After that I stayed with them until I was old enough to leave on my own."

"I think I read about it, but there's been so many plagues lately. It's difficult to pinpoint on where the next one will hit," Kiba mutters with a look of anger on his face. "It's usually the small towns or villages that are hit by it because medicine sure is expensive nowadays."

A snort can be heard from the doorway, making them turn their heads to see who it is. Naruto is leaning against the door post, blushing when he sees the three of them taking in his attire. Hastily, he straightens up his stance before he closes the door. The blond walks on over towards the others before he sits down between Iruka and Kiba.

"Don't laugh at my clothes," he mumbles when he hears Kiba snort back some laughter. "So, what's all this talk about the plague? Is Iruka telling his story?"

He gives his old teacher a concerned look which the older brunette smiles off as if it's nothing although Naruto knows that it's a lie because Iruka is having a hard time talking about it, "Let's forget about all that. How about we question the matter if we want to leave or stay on this island? In my opinion I prefer to stay."

Kiba seems to nod at this, agreeing with his friend for certain reasons, "We may not look the part around here. We might not fit in, but I like it here despite the nagas. I don't know why, but there's something about them that I like. It's not there looks."

Naruto makes a disbelieving sound, "Yeah, right…..that's probably the only reason why you want to stay here. You find their looks rather sexy."

"Hmph, if it's anyone who finds their looks sexy then it's you, Naruto," Kiba bites back before smirking at the glare he's receiving. "Seriously, you're the one who decided to stay with Sasuke. Who knows what you two get up to when you're by yourselves."

He laughs at the blush that creeps itself onto his friend's cheeks, knowing he has hit a sore spot about Sasuke. Naruto isn't quite sure why he decides to stay with Sasuke, having been telling himself it's just a reason to keep away from Kiba until the brunette's love for him dies down. On second hand, Naruto isn't sure that is the reason anymore, noticing he feels goosebumps whenever the black snake comes too close to him. He knows that it isn't from fear. That is the reason why he had stomped away this morning, wanting to keep himself from letting Sasuke know he might have an interest in him. It won't be too bad. Naruto is half snake himself, having the form of a human except he can still do things a normal person can't ever possibly do. One of them is holding his breath for long periods of time. He's also able to heal faster than a normal human. He's never been sick, being able to open his mouth quite wide and seems to have an elongated tongue. It isn't anything like a snakes. At first, Naruto has thought that it's just the way he was born until he realizes that his snake mother's genes are the ones that give him these gifts. Two of them are good for when he's sleeping with a man. Feeling a little bad at what he said from the way Naruto seems to have drifted off, Kiba quickly apologizes before saying some lame joke, having the four of them laughing a little. None of them are at all noticing that Sasuke is waiting outside in the hallway with a small smile on his face before slithering away, deciding to leave his new obsession alone for at least a little while.

**_Oks, that's the end of the chappie. My apologies for the wait on this, but it does take time revising things. At least this finally gets an update at long last. I hope you all enjoyed. _**

**_The next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_**


	12. Flutter

**_Hey y'all! It's time for the next chappie of Serpent's Temptress. I apologize for any delays, but it does take time to revise things. I'm sure you all will notice at some point where this goes into my continuation of the story. That'll be a while, but I'm sure y'all will be able to tell easily enough. Hehes _**

**_Anyway, let's get on with it. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice comments. _**

**Chapter 11: Flutter**

"So, how long have you've been pregnant?" Madara asks his mate, making sure his lover doesn't strain himself for fear of hurting the baby or babies as the king does whatever Nagato wants as he even massages his tail and lower back, feeling the redhead's stomach once in a while.

"I'm guessing maybe 20 days at least. I just found out today when Tsunade did a checkup on me," the red snake answers, curling up against Madara, smiling at how gentle his lover is being.

The other creatures might say their king is a cruel snake whenever they met him. It's just an image he has to keep up as a sign he isn't to be messed with. Besides, as the ruler he has a certain visage to upkeep even though it does drain on him from time to time. It also is to keep his fellow snakes in line, wanting to ensure there isn't any need for them to cause an outbreak of any kind. Nagato knows this all too well, appreciating how his mate will show his true self to him while he won't dare to reveal it towards anyone else.

"Twenty days? That gives us a month left to prepare for the child or children," says Madara with a frown.

"I know," says Nagato softly.

Hugging his lover closer to him, he continues, "You're not allowed to leave our bedroom unless I'm with you. You're allowed to only eat healthy foods. You must keep up your strength for when you give birth."

If it's anybody else who demands this of him, Nagato might of outright refused. He might of also slithered out of the room. But since this is Madara of all people he knows the black snake wants him safe. He understands, feeling worried about him. Nagato nods without saying a word before he lies his head on his mate's chest, releasing a tired sigh.

"Tsunade's going to come see me each week to check on the progress and be there for when I have to give birth," explains Nagato.

"Good, she's the only one I trust to be near my mate, let alone my child," kissing the top of his lover's head, Madara moves away to leave. "I need to go make my rounds of my palace. I also need to make sure everything's is in order. I won't be long."

The last sentence is to reassure Nagato when he sees the look of disappointment on the red snake's face, smiling gently before he left quietly. He will try to finish it up quickly, knowing that his mate will be anxious for his swift return.

()()()()()

Gaara can hear laughter coming from one of the rooms where the humans are in. He decides to take a respite to listen to what they might be laughing about. It turns out to be nothing. They seem to be telling old stories about their childhood. One of the humans are missing though. He guesses that it has to be that long haired, lavender eyed man. Who can ever forget such a soothing deep voice like that? It causes shivers to run down his spine when he first heard that human speak, being able to smell him not too far away. He's most likely in another guest room. Following the scent, Gaara reaches a door. Luckily enough, it's not too far away from the other guests. He's on a mission it seems. This one seems to be one which will most likely have them falling asleep in each others' arms when it's all over. Knocking twice before opening it, the redheaded coral snake slips in before shutting the door again, gazing into those beautiful lavender eyes that are staring right back at him in confusion.

"What do you want?" the human asks none too gently with a small glare.

Ignoring the other's obvious foul mood, Gaara slips closer to him until they aren't even a foot apart. Unknowingly to the brunette, the snake is curling his tail around him, not giving the human a chance to escape. He smirks triumphantly when the glare hardens as lavender orbs grow suspicious. The naga doesn't at all blame him for feeling that way. Neji doesn't know what his intentions are here with him, remaining unsure if he even wants to know the answer to that question.

"What do you want?" the human repeats again, a little harsher this time, seeing that he's efficiently trapped within scaly walls.

"You," Gaara finally answers with a lick of his lips.

Before Neji can say anything, Gaara is on top of him, holding him down for him to look at him with a lusty gaze. Then the snake surprises the brunette by switching their roles, having the human on top and the redhead on bottom. The surprise turns into confusion as Neji wonders if he really wants to sleep with this creature. There might not come a time like this again, feeling rather stressed out after all the advents that have occurred so far. Neji has to admit that he isn't attracted to women. He isn't attracted to men either, but this delicious creature is a fine treat. He ends up deciding he can't afford to pass up the opportunity. With a sigh, the human leans down to kiss Gaara's lips hungrily. All of his Thoughts are thrown out of his head to give into his instincts, not looking back although he's definitely going to move forward.

()()()()()

"So, what's it like getting freaky with a naga?" Kiba asks Neji suddenly.

The long haired brunette sputters, making him choke on his tea which the snakes have gladly given him. It has been two weeks since they first washed up here. It has been the same amount of time Neji and Gaara have been seeing each other in private, having decided to continue there little meetings. Neji never thought that first night with the coral snake might continue on. He also doesn't exactly know what to call it. They aren't friends. He doesn't think that he can call it friends with benefits. It sure isn't a one night stand. The only time they see each other is when Gaara wants to mate.

"What in the hell are you talking about?" Neji snaps back after he gathers his senses, wiping his mouth and chin.

"You and that Gaara guy, you two have been screwin' for a while now, right?" the larger male has a look of interest on his face, gazing at the other, gaining the attention of Kakashi and Iruka.

Narrowing his eyes, Neji takes a delicate sip after saying, "Whatever I do in private isn't of your concern."

"Aha, so you two have been fuckin' each other! What's it like?" Kiba asks, but he really needs to know that he's pushing his luck for an answer as Neji holds a smoldering gaze towards the other brunette.

Neji releases an irritated sigh, figuring that if he doesn't leave now then he isn't going to be able to finish his tea in peace. Standing up, he makes his move to leave, accept for one little problem. Kiba suddenly grabs a hold of the yukata the long haired brunette is wearing. It is the one Naruto had worn two weeks ago, but Neji has tailored it to suit his style, causing him to trip, dropping his cup. Neji yelps when he loses his footing, preparing himself for the pain of hitting the ground. At least that's what he thought until he feels a pair of arms wrapping around him that catch him. Looking up, Neji sighs in relief when he sees that it's Naruto, having no idea how he might react if it might of been Gaara instead.

"Oh, thank Kami. Can you please entertain your friend for a while? I need you to keep him under control," huffs the regal brunette as he left without waiting for a reply, closing the door of their room none too gently.

Kiba winces; especially when he sees the empty cup on the floor. The tea is now being licked up by the dog. Kiba has given the canine the name, Akamaru. That is the last cup of tea Neji is going to have for a while.

"Shit, maybe I need to keep my big mouth shut," grumbles the larger brunette, but he knows that he'll have Akamaru as a companion.

"It will help in many ways," Kakashi mutters behind his hand, holding his head up, one of his elbows sitting on his knee.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kiba rounds on his captain, glaring at the way the older man is smiling at him.

Iruka, not wanting to get in the middle, moves towards Naruto; glad he does so soon when Kakashi makes a snarky remark. This in turn has Kiba jumping towards the captain, aiming for the man's neck.

"Kakashi, watch out!"

()()()()()

Sighing in sorrow at the thought of being unable to finish his last cup of tea, Neji stops where he is after ensuring he's nowhere near his friends' room. How in the hell does the stupid dog breath know he and Gaara are messing around with each other? They keep themselves scarce from the others when they do it. They opt to use either a part of the palace or an unoccupied room. So, how can Kiba know?

"Stupid mutt," he murmurs to himself, letting himself slide down the wall he has been leaning on, thinking he might as well sit down.

It is quiet where he i. The silence feels comforting to him. It, giving him time to think to himself without anyone breathing down his neck. Speaking of breathing down necks, Neji jumps when he feels a puff of hot air blow across the flesh beneath his jaw. Looking towards the direction it comes from, the brunette sees that it's none other than Gaara of all people. Gulping, Neji notices that he's staring at him with lust filled eyes accompanied by a lazy grin. Neji knows all too well what that means. The snake is horny and wants him to satisfy him.

Turning away when the redhead tries to kiss him, Neji grumbles, "I'm not in the mood right now, Gaara."

Gaara pouts at this, but it soon disappears when he sees how stressed the other male seems to be, curling his tail around Neji he states, "Something's bothering you. What is it?"

"It's nothing. I'm a little angry at the mutt," admits the brunette.

The redhead has come to the term of mutt as Kiba's nickname for the long haired brunette. He knows immediately why Neji is upset right now. Those two hardly get along, but it's more so now ever since they were washed up on this island. On the boat, they hardly crossed paths, but here they are constantly around each other. Their different personalities always bug one another to the point where they will almost always get into a wrestling match. Smirking softly, the redheaded snake presses his torso up against Neji's side, beginning to nip and kiss at his neck, causing the other to gasp.

"I can help you with that," whispers Gaara against the brunette's neck.

It doesn't take long to convince the human as soon enough the creature is dragging Neji to a secluded room, "Fine, you can have me if it'll help."

"You won't regret it."

**_Oks, that's the end of the chappie. I hope you all enjoyed it. The next one will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_**


	13. Splash

**_Hey y'all! I'm so so sorry for not updating this story in so long. The good thing is that I'm still going to be working on this. I hope to make it a great reading experience from what's up so far from here on out. Hehes _**

**_Anyway, enough of the chitter chatter for the moment. Let's get on with it, shall we? Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice comments. _**

**Chapter 12: Splash **

**"What have you done now?" Asks Naruto in a way that says that he rather not deal with this right now because he's tired from trying to avoid Sasuke ever since he had almost kissed him four days ago and the blond almost let him.**

Kiba looks offended, "I didn't do anything. All I asked was what was it like having sex with a snake!"

"Watch it," growls out Naruto as his eyes narrow dangerously.

He receives a smack from the blond, making him whine as he rubs where Naruto has struck him, "What the fuck was that for?"

"Kiba," Naruto sighs. "When will you learn Neji isn't like us? He's not as crude as we are. He keeps to himself. He's easily embarrassed. I know you would tell us all about your sex adventures, but that's not Neji. So, I suggest you apologize and try to not annoy him. You're the one who annoys him first."

When he finishes his lecture, Naruto places some of the fruit into a basket which Kiba just now notices the blonde is carrying. He decides to leave the room when he finishes up with the brunette. It's about time Naruto has had a talk with Sasuke as the blond can clearly feel the other's aggravation even from outside the room. Knocking once, Naruto opens the door. Although it's only to see the snake is fast asleep by the window. Sasuke has his head on his arms which are leaning on the windowsill with his tail curled around him. His eyebrows are furrowed in frustration. The human can't stop the soft smile that creases itself upon his lips. Setting aside the basket on the low yet small table that is in the middle of the room, Naruto makes his way towards the snake, shaking the snake gently awake once he's beside him. Sasuke breathes in sharply before he stretches after a few shakes. Eliciting a few squeaky groans, he continues to stretch his arms out, feeling oddly surprised to see the blond there. It's indeed a pleasant surprise to see him smiling down at him as if Naruto hasn't been avoiding him for a couple of days.

Sitting up from the windowsill, Sasuke growls out, "What do you want? Last time I checked, you were avoiding me like the plague."

He glides across the floor towards the basket of food, noticing how hungry he is. Without asking, the snake begins swallowing everything in in it while waiting for an explanation from the blond. Naruto gives himself some time to think about it for a little while further, being a little unsure if he can really go through with this. He knows that he has been doing it, but he also feels sort of confused. Uncertain of his feelings, he takes a sharp inhale and exhaled. Composing his resolve, he thinks that he can do this. No, he needs to face Sasuke about this whether or not he wants to follow through.

Naruto sighs, the smile long gone as he finally responds, "Why did you try to kiss me?"

Sasuke stops a piece of meat hanging from his mouth. Recomposing himself, the snake swallows what is left in his mouth, scratching the side of his nose as he thinks of what to say. He doesn't want to cause the human to become angry, upset, or even scare him off.

"Well," he begins, keeping his tone light, but it turns husky with what he ends off saying to his blonde. "Who wouldn't kiss you? I mean you're delicious like forbidden fruit."

Perhaps Sasuke can word that a little better. The reaction he receives causes the blonde to think this as well. The naga bites his lip, uncertain if he has accidentally stepped on his concubine's toes. He knows very well that he isn't supposed to care, but the human is quite admirable in his mind. He enjoys having someone to fight back against him.

"Really? Is that all you can come up with is that I look delicious?" crossing his arms over his chest, Naruto strides over towards the creature, tilting his head. "Why don't you tell me the truth? You're not a very good liar anyway."

Sasuke glares at the human, but Naruto isn't fazed by it as he glares back at him. The snake looks as if he's trying to come up with some sort of excuse again, but in the end he sighs in defeat. His gaze softens slightly towards him while Naruto continues to gaze at the other, becoming rather impatient from Sasuke's stalling. What Sasuke says next will cause Naruto to pale quickly.

"I want you," the snake murmurs, not looking at the other. " I don't mean I want to fuck you. I do want to do that though, but I want all of you. I want you to become my mate."

He still can't look at the blond, but he knows that he has surprised the human when he hears Naruto take in a sharp breath, "You don't have to answer now, but I will come and find you when you have your answer."

Sasuke lifts his eyes to see Naruto is rather pale. His eyes are wide in shock as his body is trembling slightly. The naga notices that he has no idea what is causing it. Turning away, Sasuke leaves without another word. Before the blond can open his mouth, Sasuke has left him to dwell on his thoughts. Naruto isn't all together sure, contemplating over whether he will give in to his feelings for the raven haired male or continue to avoid him. What he does know is that he can't do the latter of the two anymore. He inwardly sighs, knowing that he will have to tell Sasuke the truth. The human wants the snake, not just for a fuck, but to become Sasuke's and no one else's.

_But how do I tell him that? _

**_Oks, that's the end of the chappie. My apologies if it's short, but I do enjoy teasing my audience. There is sure to be more to come soon enough. Hehes _**

**_Anyway, the next chappie will be out shortly whenever I have it finished being revised. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it though. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!_**


End file.
